at the John Harms Center for the Arts (now the Bergen Performing Arts Center) in Englewood. From grades 1 - 8, Strong attended Woodrow Wilson School (now known as Sara M. Gilmore), an arts-integrated school in Weehawken, where she studied drama under Joseph D. Conklin. Strong began her singing career in the contest circuit at age 9, when she won New Jersey Network (NJN)'s Hispanic Youth Showcase with the first show tune she ever learned, "Much More" from The Fantasticks. She would go on to win that competition three times, later hosting an Emmy-winning show for the channel. At age 10, Strong joined the Park Players of Union City, an acting troupe based out of Union City's Park Performing Arts Center. She received professional vocal training, and learned to sing opera, eventually becoming member of the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus. In November 2001, 11-year-old Strong was selected from more than 2,000 entries and 10 finalists as the winner of Oscar Mayer's second Concurso Cantando Hasta La Fama ("Sing for the Fame") contest, in which she sang the brand's jingle in Spanish. Her victory earned her the opportunity to appear in a national Oscar Mayer commercial and $20,000 toward her college fund. Her first lead role was at age 12 as Dorothy Gale in her school's production of The Wizard of Oz. The same year she appeared in the Metropolitan Opera's Carmen. By age 13 Strong appeared in the Park Players' May 20, 2004 production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, her fifth production with the Park Players. That same year Strong was one of 48 participants selected statewide for NJPAC's sixth annual Summer Youth Performance Workshop Showcase program, which features the state's most gifted performing arts students. On April 7 and 8, 2006, Strong, while a sophomore at Union Hill High School, appeared in the school's production of Annie Get Your Gun. On March 27, 2008, Strong won the statewide Poetry Out Loud competition, a contest sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation, in which students recited and performed poems of their choosing. Strong beat over 5,000 students from 44 high schools and one home-schooled student. Strong earned $1,500 in scholarship and awards, and praise from the judges, who noted, "Strong elegantly relates the mounting tone from astute humor to quiet triumph." Strong's performance of the William Shakespeare sonnet “My Mistress’ Eyes are