Senior Cat Terrell is a friendly person who likes to share her extroverted personality through her artistic talents. At the beginning of this school year she was more introverted, frequently spending time alone, but little by little, Terrell started to warm up to more and more people. Now, halfway through her senior year, this has grown to a love for spending time with others; she gets her energy from other people, and it makes her happier to interact with people. 

     One of Terrell’s favorite forms of expression is through her band, Microfloral. Terrell started the band when senior Josh North asked if they could write music together. She can write poetry and he can write music so they combined their skills to form the group along with a few others.

     “A mutual friend, James Comstock, was talking about how he was just getting good enough at playing drums that he could tell people,” Terrell said. “And then Katie Underhill is our lovely bass player and she was a given.”

   Fellow senior Katie Underhill met Terrell casually on the upper rotunda for a group project. Since then, Underhill was one of Terrell’s closest friends and ended up becoming one of the bassists for Microfloral.

     “The band started in mid-September,” Underhill said. “[Terrell] writes most of our lyrics and collaborates with Josh North and the whole song structure in general.”

     With every new song they add to their album, Terrell and her band are able to expand their talents and pursue their interest in music.

     Terrell plans a few practice sessions a week where her band gets together and works on new songs and performing. She loves playing music with her band and hanging out with them.

     Terrell explains what she does when the band hangs out. “We watch TV and we huddle [while working on songs] and it’s really good,” Terrell said. “And we eat pizza, a lot of pizza, because my friend works at the pizza place so she just always gets pieces.” 

     Her band plans to release a new album soon titled “Caffeine Induced Anxiety.” Terrell is very excited about this upcoming opportunity for her band.

     “We don’t have much of a solid plan for the album, but it will […] will include between five and seven original tracks,” Terrell said.

     With the past Christmas season, she and her band performed at a lot of gigs, playing at the Open Mic as well as the Winter Assembly. When she’s not playing in the band Terrell keeps herself busy with her choir schedule as well as Choralation, Concert Choir, and Band.

     Terrell also participates in Tigard’s choir. Choir has performed all around the city and the state, singing a repertoire of songs and holding charity events for the choir program. In Choralation they push their singing skills to the potential to college-level music.  Being in Choralation makes her happy and it helps her feel at home.

     “[Terrell] has a lot of leadership qualities,” sophomore Choralation member DJ Johnston said. “And when she speaks up, it brings those [qualities] out; it adds a lot to the ensemble.”

     From her experience in trying new activities, Terrell has found her true extrovert self. Not only that, she has been able to further explore the meaning behind her music. She tries to be grateful for the tiny things.

     “I’ve been doing a lot with music that is fueling my creativity,” Terrell said. “And that is just always very uplifting.”