Wilbraham & Monson Academy's Mariel Picknelly '20 has been crowned, which in the ever-growing world of social media and entertainment is a very big deal.
After meeting the criteria, Mariel became officially verified by the app musical.ly in late summer. With her crown, she is considered a talent and social media influencer.
"This summer was all about what's going on the worldwide web," Mariel explained. "Hopefully this will lead to other verifications on other apps, such as Twitter and Instagram."
Mariel has her own TV show, "Jukebox Countdown," aired Sundays at 9 p.m. on live.ly TV, the live broadcast platform for musical.ly. She has 150,000 followers on musical.ly,
The summer also saw Mariel audition for "American Idol," performing live from the studio at her home to producers and members of the show's cast, including Ryan Seacrest.
"It was a cool experience," she said. "I was home but the people watching were at the headquarters, which is in California."
Following the release of her EP, "Make It Epic," which included the song "EPIC," Mariel is almost done writing songs for her next album. She plans to begin recording soon.
"I'm co-writing all of the songs," Mariel beamed. "I've never been in that writing process before. I'm so excited because the songs are a part of me and something I went through. I want my music to be fun but relatable to everybody."
Something that is relatable to everyone is Mariel's determination to reach a goal, which in her case is to be an inspirational artist in the entertainment world. She knows her window of opportunity won't be open forever so she's pushing as hard as she can to reach her goal.
"Over the past few weeks I've gotten the realization this is what I want to do," said Mariel, a new model for Diff Eyewear. "I need to double down so I'm focusing on balancing school and music because these are the most important things in my life right now."