High school students juggle career dreams, educational realities

While two Las Vegas Valley seniors have decided on futures pursuing music careers, they haven't lost focus of what they consider to be an equally valuable prize: an education.

Muna Hiluf of Canyon Springs and Nathan "Nate" Colquitt of Sierra Vista are working toward long-term aspirations while balancing practical goals, such as graduating high school.

"Education is more important and although music is more than just my passion, I have to be smart about my life," Hiluf says.

Colquitt agrees, saying he'd never consider dropping out of school to focus on his career. "Never have and never will. Anyone who does not have a backup plan is a fool and is not aware of how cruel the world can be."

Hiluf was a contestant on season eight of "American Idol." She auditioned in Phoenix and was awarded the "Golden Ticket," as they call it, to Hollywood. Although she advanced from the first cut to the Hollywood round, she was sent home after a group performance.

Hiluf, who enjoys singing gospel but describes herself as a versatile vocalist, doesn't allow being sent home from "American Idol" to discourage her. She embraces the episode as a learning experience and uses it as motivation to enhance the skills she needs to become a better performer.

"I do a lot of public speaking to help my performance and become more personal," she says. "I like for my audience to feel comfortable and the emotion that I am feeling."

While she wants to become a successful performer, Hiluf refuses to put career before education.

"I do things pertaining to my music on the weekends or after school only," she says.

Colquitt also knows how important it is to balance education and career goals. He handles both by "knowing what needs to be done and what can be put off for a while."

When he is working on his hip-hop career, Colquitt spends time rapping in his at-home studio. However, he writes down his lyrics as soon as they come to his mind, no matter where he is or what he is doing. Colquitt also performs whenever and wherever he has the opportunity.

"I did a show at one of my best friends' house, and although it was not the biggest performance, it meant the most to me," he says.

Hiluf and Colquitt have different outlooks on the hardships endured in the music industry compared to the challenges of high school.

Hiluf says the social and academic aspects of high school are more difficult now than the music industry.

"There are tests, 30 pages of readings almost each night on top of the other classes that require your focus and determination," she says. "Then of course the people who are your friends turn out not to be your friends, and on top of it all, when you're a senior, college and scholarship deadlines become your life. The struggles of school outweigh the struggles of the music world, but then again the music world isn't a walk in the park."

Colquitt says he enjoys the hardships of both worlds.

"The struggle is what keeps an artist an artist," he says. "Without my everyday struggle, I am just a guy with a mic. There are extremely different rules that apply in school. Very few apply in music. In music, you say what you think and you must stay open for criticism."