Carlton Adams knew before anyone else that his granddaughter Trinity Colbert had musical potential, that she would croon like a bird someday. “He used to tell everyone that I was going to be a singer,” Colbert, one of 50 Howard University students who visited Trenton for an Alternate Spring Brea k community service program, recalled. Colbert, a junior, coordinated the March 1-8 trip with Howard officials and Trenton-based supporters. Adams doubled down on his prediction with a perfect gift for a 3-year-old. Atlanta native Trinity Colbert sang for the Greater Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church congregation in Trenton.(Contributed photo) “He bought me a karaoke machine and continued telling everyone about my destiny with music,” Colbert said. The investment in the karaoke machine paid off royally as Colbert, 20, a music therapy major at Howard University in Washington, D.C., fell in love with voice and performing arts. “My favorite song was ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ by Sam Cooke. My family still loves hearing me sing that (song) and ‘Chain Gang,’” Colbert, who used the karaoke machine with such regularity that the contraption expired when she turned 15, remembered. One can imagine Colbert wading into the lyrics, “I was born by the river, in a little tent” and then nothing but dead air followed by R.I.P. condolences. Before expiration, the karaoke machine had become a kind of time machine, opening a portal that allowed Colbert opportunity to step through and cultivate a passion. Colbert displayed her vocal talents here when she sang during a Sunday service at Greater Mount Zion A.M.E. Church. While her grandpa passed when she was in eighth grade, Colbert remains spiritually connected to him and watched over by a loving mother. “My mom,” Karla Adams, “and God are the reason I’m at Howard, why I have so much faith, why I accomplish the things I do.” Sam Frisby, a Mercer County commissioner and Howard University graduate, with Howard University junior, Trinity Colbert.(Contributed photo) ...read more read less