Bakersfield College nursing student Kristen Bumbaca, 24, to be on “The Voice.” On Feb. 2, Bumbaca went to Los Angeles to audition in front of the producers for “The Voice.”

“The Voice” is a reality talent show on NBC that has four famous judges. While the contestants are singing for the audition the judge’s chairs are turned around so they can’t see them, only hear them. The judges then have to push a button to pick the contestant. That person goes on the judge’s team. Once the judge’s teams are full they coach the contestant the rest of the show. Ultimately there is one winner.

Bumbaca’s passion for singing started at a young age.

“My older sister inspired me to sing,” said Bumbaca. “Every time I would hear her sing, I would just think, wow, I want to sound like that when I grow up.

“My very first solo was at my eighth-grade graduation. I didn’t even know I was doing it. My teacher said that she wasn’t going to tell us until the last minute so that we wouldn’t get nervous. It’s the song right before people start walking across the stage. So as were singing it, right when the solo came up, it got quiet and she pointed to me she said, ‘Kristen go,’ there were 300 to 400 people I was like, wow, I want to do it again.”

Bumbaca continued, “I loved it because I didn’t have time to be scared. I just did it.”

When Bumbaca went on to high school everything changed.

“My freshman year, something really bad happened,” she said. “It’s very personal, but after that I started really feeling the songs. I became more emotionally attached to them.”

“I found that was the best way to express myself. It really changed my life. It was hard for me to express my feelings. That’s when I realized through singing I could.

“You put your emotions into it, and it feels powerful. That’s why I love Christina Aguilera so much. She has meaning in her songs. I understand what she’s trying to say.”

In high school, Bumbaca was in ROTC during which time she started singing.

“I was at ‘boot camp’ and my sergeant asked me to sing the national anthem in front of, like , five platoons. Over the next couple days, I had to have sung the anthem 30 times,” she said. “After that I started singing at military balls, and football and basketball games.”

Bumbaca originally was going to audition for “American Idol”