Words cannot explain how unique freshman Morgan Phillips is.

The impression Phillips gives is one you can’t really get from any other person. She makes you feel comfortable even when you don’t know her.

Phillips’ love for music is an important part of who she is.

Her family also shares her love for music.

“Almost everyone in my family sings or plays an instrument, and when I was younger my brother and I would always jam out to music,” Phillips said. “Also, I’ve been through a lot and music helps me know everything will be OK. It’s hard to explain my passion. Music is my love, and I feel like I need it to survive.”

Phillips is also part of a band.

“I play piano and sing in a band called One Pursuit, which is a Christian contemporary (band),” Phillips said. “I love my band so much.”

She and her bandmates are all good friends.

“We’re all very close, and they’re like a family, which is so important to me since I never knew what a real family was or how a real family acted,” Phillips said.

Phillips’ band mate and friend is Ms. Jolysea Ranger, a 27 year old from Swartz Creek. Ranger believes Phillips’ voice is distinctive and a great addition to the group.

“She adds to the band a unique, young, vocal quality that rounds out and completes a very diverse set of colors and tones that make up One Pursuit,” Ranger said.

Phillips believes she has a future in music.

“I would absolutely love to pursue a career in music,” Phillips said. “It makes me so happy, and many people don’t always get to do what they love. And if I got to, then I am blessed.

Phillips plans on continuing her passion in music.

“I will not give up on making music my career because it’s already such a big part of my life,” she said.

Phillips’ brother, Garrett Garwood, passed away a few years ago, and it has been hard on her.

“Well, despite our age difference of 10 years, we were close, and he was my best friend,” Phillips said. “He was one of the only things holding me here. I didn’t want to live when he died. I prayed that I would die.”

Phillips had a rough time grieving over Garrett.

“I couldn’t eat, and if I tried, I got sick. When I first was told he died, I blacked out,” Phillips said. “I’ve been through a lot even before my brother’s death and, still, I would take it all and so much more and all of his pain just to have him back.

“To this day the pain is so raw. I feel I never was able to go through the grieving process, and I never will be able to. It will always be fresh pain. After he died nothing was real.”

But Phillips has been able to move forward in her life. Besides her music, Phillips spent time swimming.

“Swimming is still a very big passion of mine. I miss competing. It really is a love-hate sport,” Phillips said. “It hurts, feels impossible at points, your lungs burn, muscles ache. But it’s the type of sport you can’t see yourself without.”