The music starts and she knows all eyes are on her, she can feel the adrenaline and pure happiness rushing through her veins as she lifts the microphone to her lips confidently. Sophomore Danica Ruiz has spent a lot of time sharing her talent for singing and songwriting with the world. Having performed on stage several times and gaining followers on the internet from videos of her singing covers of popular songs as well as her original songs

“I’ve been singing and going to vocal lessons once every two weeks since I was five years old,” Ruiz said. “I’ve been singing my whole life, but I started singing professionally at five.”

Supporting her daughter from the very beginning, Ruiz’s mother, Christina Ruiz encourages her daughter to continue singing and helps her any chance she can.

“It was me who decided to put Danica in vocal lessons, I thought it was important to start her in vocal lessons as soon as we find the right vocal coach for her,” Christina Ruiz said. “I am there when Danica writes new music and I make sure I never miss any of her performances. I am so proud of Danica and I am in awe of her gift of singing, songwriting, and producing.”

Fortunately for Ruiz, she is not only supported by her mother, but also by the rest of her family, friends, and other important people in her life while she does the thing that she loves most.

“My whole family and my vocal coach have been really encouraging, my mom is always there for everything, my grandparents and the rest of my family just love watching what I do,” Ruiz said. “I love performing and being on stage and always have, I always feel happy when I’m on stage performing because I’m doing what I love.”

Gallery • 3 Photos

Ruiz poses with the Muse Creative Arts dancers after performing for the NBA Summer League.

With all of this success, Ruiz has still gone through hard times trying to chase her dreams and build her career.

“When I first started I didn’t understand the feeling of stage fright. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I started feeling nervous on stage,” Ruiz said. “It would normally happen before I would perform for an hour or two before or right before I go on stage but it normally went away right as I went on stage and started performing. I like to be a perfectionist with my singing and put a lot of pressure on myself to do my best.”

Ruiz’s family has also played a big role in helping her battle this fear and keep moving forward with her passions.

“Danica always experiences a bit of nervousness before she gets on stage, but once she is on stage it goes away. We tell her it’s always good to be a little nervous, it’s what keeps you grounded,” Christina Ruiz said. “We always let her know how proud we are of her and we will be by her side through this wonderful journey she is on.”

It appears that Ruiz follows her family’s advice because she continues to fight through all fears and other challenges that have arisen while she performs.

“The more practice the more you feel ready, you don’t know what’s going to happen when it’s a live performance,” Ruiz said. “At First Friday, I went to perform on stage and I introduced myself and I was waiting for my track to start playing so I could sing. A track did start playing, but it was not my track. A completely different track started playing that I had never heard before and that is what I had to sing to. Luckily it was the same song, just a different track that I had never heard before.”

Ruiz hopes to one day move away from performing covers and start releasing and performing more of her own original songs.

“I am planning to release my first original song this year and I will be performing it live at some venues,” Ruiz said. “I don’t have all the details right now but to keep updated and for more information check out my Instagram @danicaruiz07 because I will post updates and details on everything soon!”

Ruiz’s original songs are beautiful and speak to her own experiences, writing and performing her own songs is one way that Ruiz connects with others on a personal and emotional level.

“We (her family) are so proud and in awe of how creative Danica is when it comes to all her original songs. They are songs that can speak to everyone in one way or another,” Christina Ruiz said. “Danica’s original songs can be interpreted in many different ways and almost everyone can relate to them in their own way.”

In writing her songs, Ruiz is able to find inspiration in almost all of the world around her and works on the songs as the lyrics and music comes to her.

“I normally try to get inspiration from a topic I think would be cool to write about or from real-life experiences. Sometimes I write the lyrics with the music and sometimes I get ideas for lyrics before I even make or have the music,” Ruiz said. “I’ll come up with a story and then I’ll go write it, you can really get inspiration from anywhere.”

She takes her singing and songwriting very seriously and is reaching for a future in the music industry where she can professionally record and release her own music.

“I do believe Danica will make it far in the music industry. She is a very professional young woman and is constantly moving forward in her music journey,” Christina Ruiz said. “Starting at the age of two she would learn and sing. Any Disney princess song,Somewhere over the Rainbow and Calico Cats from the musical CATS were her favorites.

Danica intends to continue following her dreams and become a famous and successful singer/songwriter.

“I think that’s like my main goal in life is to continue a music career, putting out songs, singing and performing,” Danica Ruiz said. “I hope to be writing more songs and be out there performing. Doing concerts if people like my music, if I can get a fan base and stuff like that it would be amazing.”