Music : Creative Writing : My Passion For Music

“We eat in the teachers lounge. I wouldn’t even try the cafeteria food. God, it tastes like crap.” I giggle. Is he joking? “Um. are we even aloud to go in there?” The boy rolls his eyes. “Heck no. But there’s nothing wrong with a little, trouble, right?” he winks, and pulls me closer to him. “Right,” I lie, and follow him over to the so-called teachers lounge. The lounge is much nicer the cafeteria-there are large padded chairs, a snack bar, and no teachers in sight. “Where are they?” I question. The boy shrugs. “The other lounge. It’s much nicer, but you gotta work with what you got, right?” He’s doing the “Right?” thing again. “Right,” I lie once more. He begins to serve himself at the snack bar. I’m surprised at how he does things so easily without feeling even a tinge of guilt. “Cheese or salami sandwhich?” he says. “Surprise me.” Oh, now its like I’m flirting with him. Great. Suddenly, the door of the lounge swings open, and out rush out three of what seem like the boys’ friends. Sure enough, he introduces them to me: Raven; who has spikes sticking out of every area of her clothing, Byron; who has seemed to beat the record for piercings on one ear; and then himself, who turned out to be named

“Why would someone join chorus? Only nerds and weird people are in choir.” Hearing comments like these when I was in middle school almost discouraged me from participating in the arts. I did not want to do anything that would make it more difficult to achieve popularity, for I was obsessed with trying to fit in with my peers. My chorus teacher knew how irrational it was for me to think that and convinced me to try out for chorus. I am forever grateful that she did, for joining chorus allowed me to express myself, connect with others, and create memorable experiences.

I nervously explained to the counselor, “I’m having some trouble finding a class that is a good fit.” She suggested that I try something out of my comfort zone, to “try new things” -whatever that means-. Sitting up confidently in her chair, she then proceeded to pull up open classes on her computer. After explaining what each one entailed for a good half hour, I wasn’t very impressed by the options. Clearly frustrated and defeated she suggested, “Choir?” The very last one on her list was the class that made me who I am today.

After doing exceptionally well in my district-level audition, I had the opportunity to continue to try out for the state level. Now, throughout the first audition, I had the help of a few people. Of course my middle school band director, Mr. Carter, had helped me on this treacherous road; however, a man named Andrew Bennett had also decided to chance with me.

The romance began when I was four. I still remember when my mom dragged me, kicking and scratching, to the local Long and McQuade’s for violin lessons. At that age, I was more interested in making music with a purple dinosaur than I was with a wooden box. I have put thousands of hours of practice over thirteen years into taming its rough voice, and now, I am equally capable of producing roars of rage as I am sighs of satisfaction.

Ever since I was in my mother’s womb, music was a part of me. Music was a part of me because of my dad. He has been playing the guitar and singing even before him and my mom even met. I remember listening to stories on how when my mom was pregnant with me, he would play music and I would kick like crazy. Because of this, music was in my blood. I felt destined to play music. Turns out music became my passion. Listening to music and eventually playing it became my everything.

Nick’s ultimate goal in life is to become a Feng Shui Consultant. To work towards that, he participates in many extracurricular activities to grow close to his peers and learn more about each individual’s aura. Every Sunday after church, Nick spends his time volunteering at animal shelters. During the week, he is President of the Latin Club. “He really puts effort into showing up,” says Angela, a fellow Latin Club member. Over the summer, No-Knees Nick dedicated his time to reading every Shakespeare play. He

My relationship with writing could have culminated into three words; fear, quality, and of course no relationship is complete without excitement. Like any new relationship, emotions can determine the success or demise of the relationship. These emotions all work to the betterment of the writer and the writing relationship, each emotion feeding ever so slightly off one another. Exploring these writing relations reveal the truth where my writing relationship is concerned.

This past year, I have been apart of Naperville Central’s brand new Special Spaces club. When my friend approached me and asked me to join, I agreed even though I had no clue what I was involving myself in. In retrospective, I can honestly say that becoming a part of Special Spaces has been one of the most meaningful, fun, and fulfilling experiences I have had in high school.

I entered through the double-doors. I signed-in while school security officers’ wand-down students. Then I located the main office. Once inside, I was handed my assignment papers titled: Chorus Concert I (Period 6).

We were not the club that got talked about openly, we were not the club that teachers voiced their love of; in fact, we were the club that students were afraid to tell their parents they were a part of. The people in this club had been taught to hide themselves, to make fun of themselves, to hate themselves and to never allow people to truly know who they were inside. These were the people who got talked about in the hallways and made fun of during

“Aia ke ola I ka hana”, in translation life is found in labor. Labor is the key to success in life and is what you will continue to do for your entire life. Those who are lazy or dependent will never get their work done and will be stuck in the same place in life. The amount of work you put into things determines how well you will live your life and is important to create your own journey.

Journal, camera, and a bull horn. I am a writer, when I put my pen to a piece of paper I feel that I am allowing myself to be truly unfiltered."Many will travel to hear you speak". I saw this on a fortune cookie from Panda Express during a time when I was unsure on what I wanted to be and what my talents were. I always had a passion for writing and public speaking.

“A positive place for kids.” These words stuck in my head like glue thanks to my brother Daniel, who always had club shirts with that phrase on the back. The Boys Club of Cicero never had any special meaning to me until my eighth birthday when I finally registered. I remember my first day at the club like the back of my hand. I walked in; and noticed the cool gray carpet, and immediately walk up to a dark brown desk. I hear the laughter of other children having a good time. The smell of dirty gym socks and sweat roamed the air. I was honestly a little grossed out at the beginning. Behind the desk, I’m greeted by Mr. Madejyck, a tall old man with reading glasses and a white, bushy mustache. He turns out to be the club director and was in charge of showing me around. He immediately gave me a smile and says, “The club can use another Ramirez.” He then tells me my brothers created a little dynasty of potent leaders for the club. I didn’t understand and asked, “What does that mean?” Mr. M. followed up with, “A Ramirez family is a winning family.”

Art. To me is something undefinable, what I want my art to show you is a piece of myself and a piece of yourself. Something we can all relate to; a memory, a song, a poem, art should make you feel something. Art is a gift, a tool we can use to hide beauty in ordinary places and things. I want to broaden my understanding of design and the world that art is beyond my knowledge and experiences. Because my love for creating burns so bright and deep within me, I am determined to find a career path that will allow me to explore the world of design and art every day. A number of art forms are endless and this seems like a daunting task to find just one path that can express the enjoyment and involvement I want to have with art. Throughout my life I have been endlessly drawing, painting, sculpting and creating--often times I feel almost cursed with such talent to create because the ability seems endless. I have taken a number of art classes exploring my passions as a High School Student and created many different types of works including oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings; etching, embossed, and screen printmaking; charcoal, graphite, and pastel drawings; Sculpting with ceramics and plaster as well as wheel pieces. I find that there is few mediums I have yet to experiment with. I have become accustomed to Acrylic paintings as I have recently started to create paintings and sell them to community members. I participated in a local art fair and it opened my eyes to what art