Hey J-14ers,

I just saw this brand new super cute YouTube video of Victoria Justice working with her vocal teacher, and I thought it was really cool for a couple of reasons: one, she actually gets to work with a trainer (lucky girl!); two, the girl can sing; and three, she's not practicing a bunch of boring scales. She's genuinely excited to practice because she's belting out Lady Gaga's "Speechless."

I love how excited Victoria is to not just sing but practice singing. Which got me thinking -- I had teachers back in the day who got me that excited about certain subjects too, like my 8th grade English teacher. He encouraged me to think outside the box by choosing a novel I wanted to read for our major book report that year -- I didn't have to read any of the stuffy classics I wasn't terribly in to. I've wanted to read books from all different genres ever since. Kinda cool, right?

Check out Victoria's video below, then tell me -- what cool alterna-lessons are you learning right now? Who's influencing you?

<3,
Emily, J-14 editor

Photo: Courtesy of Michael Courtney/Nickelodeon