Isha Mishra's Unbridled Joy Music Memorial Scholarship
In Isha’s own words: “I joined choir because I love to sing, which most people in choir do. However, I stayed in it because I met so many new people.” These two simple sentences beautifully capture her greatest passion. Music filled Isha with unbounded joy—whether she was singing with friends, humming quietly at home, or singing freely in the shower when she thought no one could hear her. Though she was usually a gentle, soft-spoken girl who didn’t seek attention, standing on stage with a microphone allowed her to step out of her shell and be her truest self. Her angelic voice could captivate and mesmerize an entire audience, yet she didn’t sing for praise or applause. She sang because singing itself made her happy.
If anything rivaled Isha’s love for music, it was her love for people. She cherished her friends deeply and had an instinctive kindness that drew others in. If someone was new to school or sitting alone at lunch, Isha would make a point to sit with them, talk to them, and make them feel welcome. Her laughter was infectious, her joy contagious. She had a rare ability to truly listen, to lift spirits, and to make people feel seen, heard, and valued. A group of people was never sad when Isha was in it.
In one of her eighth-grade assignments, Isha quoted: “Followers follow the marked trail, but leaders forge their own through unmarked territory.” She lived by these words. Isha believed everyone should be free to make their own path, without being pressured to change by others’ expectations. She believed each person is special because of their uniqueness, and that the world is beautiful because of its diversity. She even found beauty in what she jokingly called “icky and gross” things—mold, mushrooms, spores—because they, too, were part of that diversity.
Isha’s life was tragically cut short at the age of 14 on Tuesday afternoon, December 2, 2025, while walking home from school. She was the victim of a pedestrian accident at the intersection of Valley Ridge and Browning in Flower Mound. Born on March 21, 2011, Isha lived in Flower Mound her entire life. She attended Prairie Trail Elementary School, Lamar Middle School, and was a student at Marcus High School. She is survived by her older brother, Aneesh; her parents, Hiranmoy and Saswati; and her grandparents, Mahendra and Amiya Bala, and Bijoy and Jyotirekha, uncle, Sambit, aunts, Banaja and Kranti and cousin, Ridhima.
Isha’s legacy is one of compassion, optimism, and love. She taught us to cherish every moment, to lift one another up, and to find beauty in even the simplest things. As we remember Isha, may we carry her spirit forward in how we treat others and in how we choose to live our lives. Feel free to browse or add to her kudoboard HERE for a glimpse of her life.
