FAQ
Why did you decide to major in Songwriting?
This is an easy one but has a few answers. I have always loved music and I have always loved reading. In country music, specifically, I found beautiful stories woven into melodies that I loved. In the back of my mind songwriting made sense to me. It was not until I went to a Hunter Hayes concert in 2014 that I realized that I could actually go somewhere and learn how to be a songwriter.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
This age-old question is normally aimed at six-year-olds. However, I still have some growing up (and learning) to do, so I feel okay about answering this. The beautiful thing about this question is that six-year-old Mackenna definitely had a different response than twenty-two-year-old Mackenna. When I was six I wanted to be a rockstar, and all the credit goes to Hannah Montana. Now that I have grown up a bit, I realize that the episodes of Hannah Montana that made me want to be a rockstar were actually the first episodes of television where I realized that stories existed everywhere. The shows I watched as a kid made me want to be a lot of things: a rockstar, a wizard, a teacher, and the list goes on. Those shows are what I have to thank for introducing me to storytelling, and for showing me what I want to be when I grow up. Simply put, I want to be a screenwriter, tell stories, and inspire other young girls to be whatever they want to be.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years, I will be twenty-seven years old which is a bit strange to think about. I hope by then I am living somewhere that I love and working in a field that I love as well. Before I get anywhere near wanting to settle down, I hope I have traveled a bunch, seen beautiful places, and made great memories. I suppose that all I can hope for, and work toward, is to be a screenwriter. As long as I have that, I can find things that make me happy in whatever city I end up in.
