Overcoming difficulties and challenges is something that Malia constantly has had to do since she was a little girl. Born in Seoul, South Korea, life was anything but a fairy tale. At the age of 2 her mother abandoned her at a police stationed and left. After six months confined in an orphanage, Malia was finally adopted by an American family.
The Edwards adopted and accepted her as one of their own daughters. She grew up the majority of her life in a small town called Walkersville, in Maryland where she was the middle of three girls. Life was a constant struggle for Malia, identifying herself as an Asian amoung white people was not an easy task. She turned her focus on music.
Malia was singing the day she was adopted. She learned to play the clarinet at nine and picked up reading music with ease. She joined the Fredrick Children's Chorus and sang with them for over 7 years. She began writing poems and lyrics at the age of 13. In junior high she made the All County Chorus and Band in the same year. In high school, Malia continued to sing in Chorus as well as play her clarinet.
At the age of 17, Malia decided she needed a change and not having any real focus or direction in her life, she decided to join the Marines. She auditioned for the Marine Corps Band and made it. After three months of boot camp in Paris Island, South Carolina and 2 weeks of combat training, she was off to the Armed Forces School of Music in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Malia soon realized that playing the clarinet was not what she wanted to do for the next four years in her service. However, being at the school enabled the opportunity for Malia to begin teaching herself how to play the piano. After completing aviation maintenance school in Mississippi, she was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. It was here where she began playing the guitar. Malia had the opportunity to sing "The Wind Beneath My Wings" at the Breast Cancer Awareness ball and she sang the National Anthem at the Marine Corps Ball.
After a year of service in Japan, Malia was stationed at Miramar in San Diego, California. After the encouragement of a close friend, she began singing in public at different open mike nights and venues on base. She also had the opportunity to sing the national anthem at the Marine Corps Ball for her unit two years in a row.
Malia was honorably discharged a Sergeant from the Marine Corps in 2003. She now lives in Glendale, Arizona where she enjoys working with other artists.
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