JACKI LYDEN, Host:
Dave DeWitt of North Carolina Public Radio has the story.
DAVE DEWITT: Nikea Randolph was eight years old when she first heard Beethoven and fell in love with music.
NIKEA RANDOLPH: I was amazed at the fact that so much self-expression and compassion can be expressed without words. From that point on, I kind of just - music became my everything. Music is my life.
DEWITT: Nikea decided early on she wanted to go to Juilliard. So she got up every day before school and practiced for two hours. Then four more when she got home. She plays the piano, guitar, clarinet, drums, even the autoharp. And she writes her own music, too, like this.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR MUSIC)
DEWITT: Juilliard is a long shot for anyone, and Nikea had one distinct disadvantage. She didn't have a classical guitar - the kind she needed to play on her audition tape. That didn't sit well with Scott Hendrickson, a fellow senior.
SCOTT HENDRICKSON: I like to play music. I like to listen to music. But I noticed that the guitar she was playing it was not built for that kind of music. And I realized that somebody with that kind of musical potential deserves to have an instrument that can really take them that far.
DEWITT: So Scott sprang into action. He sent out a mass text message to his fellow seniors and asked for donations. The money came in quickly - $10 here, $2 there. He remembers how much it cost to the penny, but he doesn't want Nikea to know. When he had enough, he drove an hour and a half to Raleigh and bought it.
HENDRICKSON: I had the idea. I took the idea, and literally in less than 24 hours, we had the guitar.
DEWITT: A few days later, he stood on a stage at the school's talent show and surprised Nikea with the guitar; a moment captured in a jumpy YouTube video.
HENDRICKSON: We want you to go and see you do everything that you always wanted to do. So we got you this Cordoba.
(SOUNDBITE OF A SCREAM)
HENDRICKSON: Unidentified Woman: Go, Nikea.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)
DEWITT: In the video, Nikea is overcome. Several months later, she still is.
RANDOLPH: When they got me that guitar, it makes me realize that they actually believed in my dreams and they want to help me accomplish my dreams.
DEWITT: Nikea was crushed, for about two weeks. And then, like a musician, she turned her pain into art.
RANDOLPH: People, as you know, let it out. Mom goes, let it out, you can cry. And I'm like, mom, I don't want to cry.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
RANDOLPH: I don't want to cry. I just want my music. There's some times I just want my music and that was one of them.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUITAR MUSIC)
DEWITT: For NPR News, I'm Dave DeWitt in Durham, North Carolina. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
