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FROM MSN ENCARTA


The Making of an Idol
by Ysolt Usigan


Article provided by The CollegeBound Network
There's no single prescription for becoming a music star. Some musicians such as Josh Kelley bombarded record labels and music producers with letters and demos, while others like Nelly Furtado were randomly discovered by scouts at talent shows and open-mic nights.

For Carrie Underwood, hitting the big time took a little bit of both drive and chance. So what has the process been like for the former American Idol?

"So far, I haven't done much [of] anything today. I stumbled off the bus just now," she explains. "I'm going to start getting ready soon for my show."

This month, the country singer will be hitting St. Louis, Atlanta, Albuquerque, and Cincinnati, among other cities, serenading crowds with songs about lessons learned, her relationship with God, and being homesick.

"Being away from everyone is sometimes really hard," she explains. "I'm a super-busy person, but I do try to balance spending time with my loved ones."

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Research colleges and universities by state and region.However, being away from her friends and family is nothing new for the 23-year-old. She had already experienced being away from her family and friends as an undergraduate at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Now armed with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts, the once-aspiring broadcast journalist attests, "a balancing act is the main thing I picked up from college."

School days
College also prepared Underwood with a fallback career. She says if she had never become a professional singer, she'd be a news reporter. "I wrote for my high school newspaper," she explains. "I was always good with words; English was a strong subject for me. I was never good at math."

Underwood refined her reporting skills further by writing for her college newspaper, the Northeastern, while majoring in journalism.

"I've been on the other side; I've had to interview people," she points out. "That's prepared me for being on this side--being asked and having to answer questions."

Underwood admits to giving up on her dreams of being a singer when she was in college. She focused more on getting an education than pursuing her talent because she felt she had to be practical and prepare for a future in the "real world."

"Going to college was just never a second thought. I knew I was going. I wanted to for the advantages. College lays a foundation for the rest of your life," she asserts. "Now, if I ever want to retire from singing, I have something else I can do."


Sorority life
Although Underwood came to college with a master plan--earn a degree, get a job--she didn't foresee certain adverse circumstances such as feeling lost without her high school friends and having to make new ones. "I went to college not knowing anyone. My friends went elsewhere," she says. "I never considered myself a 'sorority girl,' but I was really bored at school and needed something to do."

So, Underwood joined a sorority, and has no regrets about joining Sigma Sigma Sigma. "I found a bunch of girls I can really relate to," she says. "My sorority sisters helped bring me out of my shell."

As Underwood grew more confident, she even competed in numerous beauty pageants on campus and was named runner-up in the 2004 Miss NSU competition. Even so, when her sorority sisters would beg Underwood to sing at Greek functions and other school events, she'd deny them. "I was too embarrassed," she points out.

Becoming a star
So how was the bashful amateur able to muster up the courage to audition for Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson? "I was at home one weekend and saw all of the people auditioning on the news," she recalls.

While those who had heard Underwood sing before kept pushing her to enter the contest, she was still a bit reluctant. "I wasn't sure if I could handle the stress of it," she explains. Underwood's mother offered to drive her to the audition in St. Louis, Missouri, hours away from home. Uncharacteristically, she put her fears behind her and sang her heart out.

"I'm a really shy person. I always think, 'Man, everyone is looking at me,'" she explains. "After being on the show, I've learned to be more comfortable with myself; I'm more confident now."