For the past seven years of my life music has been a big part of my life. Music is a teaching tool, a way to learn and envelop yourself, escape from the world when it becomes chaotic, and get out the thoughts and emotions that just cannot be expressed as words. And I have indulged myself in it from the start. I have become drum major of the Mary G. Montgomery Pride Marching Band, made MCPSS honor band, I sit first chair of my school’s symphonic band, and I am the lead alto saxophone in the MGM jazz band. Strangely enough, this all started with a divorce. When I was in the fourth grade my parents divorced, little did I know it was a blessing in disguise because in fifth grade my father remarried and that’s when it really began; my newfound older step-sister was in the exact same band that I now lead, and because of her I decided that I too wanted to join band. Immediately, I loved it; it came so naturally, and as I progressed, I was amazed at the things I could do with music the way the seemingly subtle change of one thing could completely change the entire experience, emotion, and message that existed within a piece of music.
High school is where I truly blossomed as musician. As a freshman, I began playing in the jazz band (which developed into my favorite style to play), I made first chair in the symphonic band over three seniors and a junior, I began learning how to play the bassoon, and I began to teach myself piano and guitar. Currently, I play alto saxophone, bassoon, clarinet, piano, and guitar. Being drum major has given me an experience that is like no other; I get to lead 141 other students every day, and I get to share this love of music with them and create something that will be left as legacy as new and old traditions and processes are passed down through years of students.
It is all this history—all this personal expansion—that has lead me into wanting to continue my musical education and to be able to pass the art of music down to generations to come.