New school. New home. New career path. That's what Mikaelah Villacruz is juggling as she moves from North Plainfield, N.J. to Las Vegas, Nev., to be with family and follow a dream. In the past year, Villacruz has launched a blog and vlog chronicling her new home, adventures and her new passion, beauty and cosmetics. Luckily, Villacruz took time out of her busy schedule to share her story.
Okay. First, I want to thank you for doing this interview. I wasn’t sure if you would do it to be honest because we’ve haven’t been in contact since I switched schools in eighth grade. I still remember sitting next to you in English in Ms. Sepkowski’s English class. I know who you were back then, but if you had to describe Mikaelah Villacruz today, how you would describe your personality and who you are as a person?
I still have a few traits that I will never grow out of, like my jovial disposition, for example. I still have a crazy energy within me that makes me get up early in the morning and do everything on my checklist before 12 p.m. I’m very goal-oriented. In fact, I would say I’m goal-driven to a fault. I’m hard on myself when I don’t achieve what I set my mind to, and I think that’s the main difference of who I am now compared to who I was before. As a 12-year-old, you are innocent in the sense that you are not paying for your own phone bill or your tuition bill, so there’s no urgency to push yourself towards work and school. I like to think of myself as the same person I was before – as someone who went out for fun and made a situation fun, regardless of circumstance, but now only with much more professional intensity.
Going off what I said earlier about knowing you back in sixth grade, what was your experience like growing up in North Plainfield and how has that shaped you into the person you are today?
After moving out of North Plainfield, I can honestly and wholeheartedly say that growing up in that small town was one of the biggest blessings of my life. Being surrounded by a variety of races and personalities has helped me to think with an open mind. The world isn’t just black and white, and North Plainfield proves that. There is so much culture in that small town, and I’m very proud of my upbringing. N.P. sort of forces you to be tougher, too. Like I said, there a lot of personalities there, so you have to stick out some way or another.
About two years after I switched schools, I saw that you started a YouTube channel, which I really enjoyed watching. I really like watching you go from covering songs like “Marvin’s Room” and “Swim Good” to doing vlogs and blogs about cosmetics. What made you start your YouTube channel and why did you decide to go from mostly covering songs to doing vlogs and beauty blogging videos?
Back then I only started uploading videos of myself singing to keep track of what I could perform in talent shows and voice competitions. I was trying to take myself seriously so that my own parents would finally take my dreams of performing seriously, but that died down quickly after my senior year in high school. I stopped performing altogether and I believe it changed me for the worse. When something is part of you for such a long time and you neglect that integral aspect of who you are, you start to experience withdrawals and begin to question the quality of your life. So I eased my way back into YouTube about a month ago with the hopes of helping myself, and also those who were watching me. For me, my YouTube is all about connecting with an audience, kind of like how performing requires the energy of an audience to work off of, but there’s less pressure and more room to be myself. I like vlogging and beauty videos because they’re fun and I feel like I can really connect with girls, but I still sing in my videos, too! It’s all baby steps, but I’m getting back to it.
You talked about your experiences in North Plainfield earlier, but now I see you recently moved out to Vegas to study at UNLV. What made you take that leap of faith and go out to Las Vegas? What has your experience been like so far at UNLV?
My parents actually relocated from North Plainfield to Las Vegas, so naturally I followed them! It’s been the toughest transition of my life, because North Plainfield is what I consider my home, but Las Vegas is as beautiful as it is on television. The glamour of this city is helping me to cope with the move, and UNLV is more than what I imagined it to be. So far, I only have great things to say about UNLV. The admissions, finance, and advising departments are the most personable and caring administrative teams I have ever encountered. This college makes me feel secure and supported.
Lastly, I just wanted to ask you what inspires you to do beauty blogging and your YouTube channel? What do you hope to accomplish with your YouTube channel and blog?
When you have a vision for your future, you need to ask yourself, “How do I get there?,” or, “What can I do to get closer to my dreams?” For the past year or so, I’ve been bottling up my desires of connecting with an online audience, and then one day I decided to act on them. Instead of staring longingly at my computer screen and wishing I could be someone on YouTube, I picked up my camera, and started filming. No one was forcing me to do it. I didn’t need any convincing. It was purely for my own happiness. After that, something like fire burned inside me – I felt like I was finally doing the right thing for myself. That’s what I hope to pass on to anyone who is watching my channel. I hope that my viewers learn to inspire themselves, as I’ve learned to inspire myself. Singing, vlogging, writing, beauty blogging, whatever it may be that makes you happy, just do it,
and do it loud and proud, like everyone is watching, because one day, they will be! There is no greater feeling in the world than doing what you love most. I hope to touch anyone who has ever felt foolish or scared of his or her dreams, because we owe it to ourselves to at least try.
