“What I would like the world to know about my situation is that being a refugee doesn’t mean I must be limited,” says Dorcas Mungusa, an asylum-seeker and a Berklee Online student.

The details of these graduates’ stories vary, as do the reasons they chose to leave Berklee, but what unites them all is an overwhelming sense of inspiration.

After 10 years working in the music industry, Katie Day enrolled in Peter Bell’s course at Berklee Online where she learned how to write and produce music for advertising. One year later, she started her own music production house out of Los Angeles.

When songwriting student Myra Molloy landed the alternate lead role of Kim in the national Broadway tour of “Miss Saigon” she contemplated dropping out of Berklee College of Music—before learning that she could complete her degree through Berklee Online.

Traditional four-year music programs can be restrictive to active musicians. Three students share their stories about how transferring to Berklee Online has allowed them to pursue their music careers close to home and on the road.

Rose Banuelos, a songwriting major at Berklee Online, established the nonprofit, Music for Purpose, which provides music education to vulnerable children in Honduras.

Berklee Online music production instructor Erik Hawkins teamed up with his students to test out the remote collaboration program, Splice Sounds.

Right out of high school, Josh Sebek completed his Advanced Certificate in Music Production using Pro Tools, a stepping stone that led him to attend Berklee’s Boston campus.

Berklee Online alum Ashley ‘PK’ Mogayzel, assistant tour manager for Wilco and tour manager for I’m With Her, offers advice about a career in tour management and talks about coordinating a Berklee opportunity at the 2019 Newport Folk Festival.