Local teen singing her way to a national talent competition
Bryleigh Isch is an everyday 16-year-old going to school in Burlington, Kan., juggling classes and activities all while making the top 50 for a national talent show.
BURLINGTON, Kan. (KSNT) – A local teen is heading to a national talent competition, and she’s the only solo act competitor from Kansas.
Bryleigh Isch is an everyday 16-year-old going to school in Burlington, Kan., juggling classes and activities all while making the top 50 for a national talent show.
Bryleigh is the president of the Burlington East Central chapter of Future Farmers of America Club (FFA). It’s an organization that prepares kids for leadership and career success through agricultural education. Each year they offer a talent competition.
“I actually wasn’t aware they had FFA talent until last year,” Bryleigh said.
Bryleigh was kind of forced into the audition thanks to her teacher, Julie Carden, who encouraged her to audition.
“When she puts her mind to something and says, ‘I think I want to do this’. She is going to do it,” Julie said. “So I know that if she says, ‘hey I think this is something I want to do’, she is going to give it 110 percent, and she is going to get it done.”
So she auditioned, just going for it and recorded a ten-minute video of her singing. Then it was uploaded to YouTube for the judges to see.
“I thought, it’s not going to go anywhere,” Bryleigh said. “I’m not going to make it to nationals. It’s just a video, we’re going to send it in.”
It didn’t take long until the judges agreed her singing was worth the top 50.
“So when I actually found out that I had made the slate, I completely started crying,” Bryleigh said.
Singing professionally isn’t in Bryleigh’s future. She actually wants to be a doctor helping kids who have hereditary spherocytosis, a blood disease she lives with.
Bryleigh said it took a while for her blood to get diagnosed as doctors dismissed her illness.
“As a 13 or 12-year-old to be like, ‘I’m super sick all the time’, but there’s nothing wrong with you,” Bryleight said. “I want to be that doctor that helps other people, and be like, you have this. We can fix it this way. You don’t have to be sick. I can be a singing hematologist.”
No matter what this 16-year-old high school student does, she knows her mom, Michaela Divoll, will always be there every step of the way.
“To be a parent and get to watch your child filled with that joy of doing something they love so much, I’m very proud of her,” Michaela said tearfully.
Bryleigh will head to nationals later this month where she will compete against 50 other solo acts.
There are other kids from Kansas who will compete in the talent show. Three are in the National FFA Chorus including a student from Mission Valley High School. One student from Holton High School will play in the National FFA Band.
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