For many young people, finding a place where they belong is a challenging and sometimes difficult process. ZUMIX alumna and Instrumental Music Manager Jen Aldana knows that struggle intimately, both as her past and present self.
“When I was younger, I struggled a lot with mental health issues and finding hope in the world,” says Jen, who attended ZUMIX programs when she was growing up in East Boston. “I grew up and found so much support through my faith, and through my community at places like ZUMIX. But sometimes that feeling still creeps up at different moments.”
Jen’s latest single, “I Belong Here,” released on Sept. 10, is “a nod to that time in my life,” Jen says. “It has a nostalgic feel for me, because I was a full-on rocker emo kid during my teenage years, and that’s the style the song is written in. I wanted to tell my younger self and also my current self that I belong.”
After graduating from ZUMIX, Jen went on to Berklee College of Music, where she earned a degree in songwriting and spent several years as a freelance artist and music teacher. In 2024, she returned to ZUMIX as a staff member, thrilled to come back to the space that had fostered her as a young person and a developing artist.
“ZUMIX had such a huge, lasting impact on me,” Jen says. “I wrote some of my first songs here in Corey [DePina’s] songwriting classes. ZUMIX gave me the space to express myself in a healthy way, and my thoughts and feelings weren’t shut down; they were welcomed. That openness was a new concept for me.”
As Jen learned how to express herself and translate her emotions into art, she also honed her skills as a performer and a songwriter. “ZUMIX provided me with the opportunities to go after my dream of being an artist and a singer,” she says. “This is a space where I always felt like I belonged.”
September is Suicide Prevention Month, and Jen’s choice to release “I Belong Here” during that time was serendipitous–but it felt right.
“At its root, the song is an anti-suicide song,” Jen says of her new single. “I wrote the chorus first, during a recent time when I was feeling displaced and out of place in my life. I thought it might need to be a soft acoustic song. But the more I sang it, I realized it needed to be a rock anthem. Whether people struggle with mental health issues, or the simple feeling of not belonging, I hope they can relate to the song’s nostalgic style, and also the message.”
Jen adds that she’d love the song to inspire young people–or artists of any age–to share their own work with the world. “I love that the young people at ZUMIX still love the genre of rock,” she says. “It would be so cool if the song inspired anyone to release their art, or create more art. Their creativity is welcome in this space.”
You can find “I Belong Here” on all streaming platforms–available now–and follow Jen and her music on Instagram. (Or catch her live on ZUMIX Radio on Monday, Oct. 6!)
