Nauset Regional High Graduate Meghan Trainor Destined To 'Leave A Legacy'
BOSTON (CBS) -- With her number one 1 hit, "All About That Bass," Meghan Trainor may seem like an overnight pop sensation. But at Nauset Regional High School, many people saw firsthand her years of passion for singing and songwriting.
"She was a good student, very tenacious. She knew what she wanted and she went after it," says Tom Faris, Meghan's music teacher at Nauset Regional. "She was a student here then she would go home in the afternoons and spend hours and hours just crafting songs."
The walls in Faris' classroom now document Meghan's rise to stardom, from local newspaper clippings to her Billboard Magazine cover. Meghan was born in Nantucket but her family sent her and her two brothers to school on Cape Cod.
"Here's a kid that you knew as a freshman in high school and is now on the world stage. It's pretty spectacular," says Faris.
Throughout high school Meghan was part of the jazz band. Her senior year she was voted "most likely to leave a legacy." And next to her senior photo is the John Lennon quote "Count your age by friends not years. "
"I think everyone always kind of knew what her dream was. I don't know if everyone realized ... it actually would happen so quickly," says Emily Faris who graduated with Meghan in 2012. Emily was part of the jazz band with Meghan, "it was really fun singing with her because she just has so much confidence when she sings."
And that confidence inspired many classmates well before she had a hit song on the radio. "It's just very cool. It's like anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it," says Eliza Fitzgerald, a junior at Nauset Regional. "It was a really kind of a uniting feeling on the Cape to have this connection to this huge star now," explains Karli Herwig, also a junior.
Right after graduation Meghan packed up and moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of singing and songwriting. "Meg was her own person. She kind of knew what she wanted to do and you didn't get in the way of Meg," says her former guidance counselor Brian White. The gamble paid off. In May Rascal Flatts recorded one of her songs and one month later Meghan was at the mic with what would become an anthem of self-empowerment.
Principal Tom Conrad beams when talking about the Nauset regional graduate.
"It's caught our school, our community, and I would think the whole Cape with a great deal of pride," said Conrad.
