18-year-old thought she'd take a gap year. Instead, she joined the S.F. Symphony

> She studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Academy for a decade and served as principal cello in the Symphony Youth Orchestra during its 2024-25 season.

In other words - ignore the article's "OMG I'm just a normal kid! Now look at what happened in my life!" tone. She has been in this space for a decade, and took the kind of opportunity that is only available to the 0.0001%.