At a stylish Beverly Hills restaurant, during an event organized by established promoters of the best emerging musicians, you would expect to see artists on the cusp of stardom, with all the tools to make it to the top. Many of those, you’d imagine, give their every living moment to their craft. It may come as a surprise that one of those is a freshman at USC, taking Writing and Critical Reasoning and General Education courses.

Sofia Gomez is one of these emerging stars. This past Thursday, she performed at Ella Beverly Hills alongside fellow Thornton student Trey Miles, bringing an enthralling sound to a stunned crowd with her original songs. At the show, one of many showcases of upcoming musical talent put on by music promotion company Breaking Sound, Gomez was able to showcase the skills she has been honing since she was only four years old.

“I was in pre-k, and I was always humming, so my teacher told my parents,” Gomez said. “And then my principal asked me … ‘Do you want to sing the national anthem for our pre-k graduation?’ … I changed the key like three times.”

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After that first time on stage and a recommendation from her teacher, Gomez started singing lessons and has not looked back since. Her desire to write songs and perform to impact others also came when she was very young. She spoke about dealing with a family member’s illness through her artistry, at only 11 years old.

“I wrote [my grandfather] a song while he was comatose … and when he woke up, we flew over … for my great grandma’s 100th birthday,” Gomez said. “I left printed versions of the song in Spanish on everyone’s table, and then they all started crying when I started performing it … it’s why I considered writing because it was the first song that touched people.”

A significant moment for Gomez when it came to considering music as a career was when she had the opportunity to go on “American Idol.” Despite not being on the final aired show, Gomez reflected on being part of the experience at just 15.

“I was the youngest of the youngest,” Gomez said. “That was very much life changing because I was surrounded by people who were so good … that was what made me realize, ‘Okay, now we’re gonna take it seriously.’”

Now, Gomez is starting to make her first strides into a career in musicianship — and big strides at that. Her first official single, “Field of Dreams,” has over 150,000 streams on Spotify and put her on the path she is on now, but even releasing her music was not supported by everyone around her.

“For me, it was worth it to release but it was daunting for sure,” Gomez said. “People were like ‘It’s not going to do well’ because most songs don’t, and I was like, ‘I know, but it doesn’t hurt to try.’”

After performing in a group for the first time as part of her Thornton classes, Gomez began collaborating more with classmates and creatives of top quality. She spoke on collaborating with other students at USC within the same school but with interests different enough to complement each other on stage.

“Everyone’s skillset is different, my strengths might be somebody’s weakness, or vice versa,” Gomez said. “[At Thornton] there’s a lot of skill sets that are compatible, and a lot of styles are compatible … just collaborating with other people expands people’s creativity so much.”

Nicholas Hanson, a freshman majoring in public relations and advertising, spoke on seeing Gomez perform at what was her first show in Los Angeles this past Thursday in Beverly Hills. Aside from just an audience member and fan, Hanson added his perspective as a friend to Gomez first and foremost.

“I felt really proud, during one of the songs I even started tearing up,” Hanson said. “Seeing her growth since coming [to USC], and she doesn’t even realize it, seeing that’s really cool.”

Discussing his experience at the show, Benjamin Kim, a freshman majoring in public relations and advertising, cited the emotions that were brought to the fore as he saw Gomez perform and her evolution since the semester began.

“It’s very surreal … I feel very inspired by her,” Kim said. “She was already so talented before having come to USC and taking advantage of all the opportunities at this institution, I feel like she’s just taking off.”

Now, Gomez’s newest single “159 Days” is on track to make her already impressive numbers on streaming platforms even more remarkable, and her journey as an artist even more exciting. She made a point, however, of what it truly looks like to start writing music from scratch. Artists, she said, all have to start somewhere even if at first their art seems lackluster.

“Ed Sheeran said it best … writing is kind of like a dirty faucet and so the more you open it, the more the muck is going to come out until eventually it’s just clean water,” Gomez said. “You’re gonna have bad songs, but the more you do it, the cleaner it’ll be and the better songs you’re gonna write.”