Most students believe that careers only start after finishing a long, long journey through high school and college. But sophomore Aaron Hinton is getting a head start right now and is taking his passion for acting and singing beyond school grounds.

Aaron moved here from the Caribbean last year but was born in America. He started singing when he was 12 years old, inspired by many R&B singers such as Usher, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

“I was like, ‘Hey, I want to be like them,’” Aaron said. “I just started singing in the shower and stuff. At first, people would yell at me like, ‘Aaron! Shut up!’”

Despite his relatively short career in singing, Aaron has come a long way in three years. Over the past year he’s taken on voice training and is a part of Chorale, Varsity Men’s Glee and Concert Choir with singing director Mark Shaull.

“I’m very excited about him as a student,” Shaull said. “He’s come an enormous distance…and made a lot of progress. I’m looking forward to his continuing contributions. He’s a great man with a great can-do attitude.”

Aaron sang the Jordin Sparks-Chris Brown duet “No Air” with senior Danielle Pierre-Louis at last year’s diversity assembly. He’s currently working on recording some original songs.

However, Aaron considers acting his “first priority right now.” He has an agent in Los Angeles and has worked for KMTV Channel 15, a local station that shows in Mountain View, Los Altos and Cupertino.

Aaron also has worked with Be That Kid TV, a talent management company in Campbell. He served as a judge in American Idol-style talent competitions.

“It was really tough to judge them,” Aaron said. “I know how Simon, Paula and Randy feel now. I learned to give feedback to the other kids.”

Aaron also participated in the iPop talent competition, a highly selective event for singing, dancing, acting and modeling that takes place annually in Las Vegas. Of thousands of kids coming from all over the world, Aaron won three awards and found his agent.

“It was a good experience,” Aaron said. “It was a whole week of working with different agents. I would wake up at 5 a.m. and wouldn’t finish until 5 in the evening. Even though it was exhausting, I enjoyed it. … I went to an average of eight auditions a day.”

In February, Aaron is moving to Los Angeles to further pursue his career in acting and singing and to work more closely with his agent. He plans to attend a local high school once there.

“Moving to L.A. is going to be a very emotional thing for me,”Aaron said. “But at the same time, I have to make sacrifices for my career. I’m going to keep doing what I love. Movies, commercials, whatever comes my way, I’m all for it.”