LAFAYETTE, La. ( KLFY ) — Through music, Emily Bourque found the support she needed after her mother was murdered and her father was sentenced to life in prison for that crime.
Bourque, a 2024 Glenn Armentor “Pay it Forward Scholarship” recipient, was only 13 years old when everything seemed to fall apart. Everything changed, Bourque said, and what she thought was normal, she found out wasn’t.
That’s when she turned to music.
“I channeled all those bad emotions and put it into music,” she said.
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“My band director, she was a mother figure to me. And especially after my mom passed, she was, she’s very compassionate and understanding during the time that I really needed that support,” she said.
Bourque’s older sister provided her a home after the tragedy.
“I love my sister very much. I look up to her. She inspires me. I don’t feel like we were that close growing up, but whenever everything happened, she was really there for me and helped me a lot,” Bourque said.
“I don’t think I would be who I am without her,” she continued.
Bourque aspires to become a music educator — specifically, a band director. She said she cannot think of a better way to fulfil her life because her passion for music is what kept her alive.
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“I know it helped me through a lot of my life. It gave me a purpose. I feel like that’s kind of what I want to do. I know I didn’t grow up like others and not a lot of people can say they went through what I went through,” she said.
“I want to help them throughout whatever it is they have to go through,” she continued.
Bourque finished high school while simultaneously earning her general associate’s degree in Early College Academy.
In spite of all she’s been through, Bourque said she is grateful for the Armentor Scholarship opportunity and the life she has because, according to her, life is not guaranteed and she is privileged to have hers.
Video edited by Conrad Hertzock.
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