Personal Narrative-Freshman Ella

Cortney. The first few lessons I attended I was advised not to even touch the bow. Before wielding the bow, it was imperative that I learned the basics of the strings, the notes they produce, and the parts of the violin. This nonetheless was just as exciting to me as playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. I began my violin studies through (and continue to practice today) the Suzuki Method, a school of teaching based predominately around training the student to recognize their own mistakes, and to correct them accordingly. Due to this, students learning through Suzuki tend to progress at a substantially slow rate to begin with, until suddenly, something ignites, and the student begins to progress much more rapidly than before. The Suzuki Method admittedly discouraged me at times. Maybe it was because I was only allowed to learn pieces by listening to recordings, and not reading music, or perhaps I found playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star literally hundreds of times a little too repetitive. Yet I persisted. Consequently, the Suzuki Method and Mrs. Cortney have molded me into a much more refined violinist than I would have ever become through any other method, as well as taught me the values of discipline and

My parents sent me off to Los Angeles when I was in 4th grade to pursue an acting career. I went from audtion to audtion, doing short/student films, plays, and pagents just to get my name out there. I landed a comercial for Time Warner Cable(Southern California Company) as a nerd in a science academy. This lifestyle took dedication and because my mom owned businesses in Salinas, my dad lived with me. We would still travel 6/7 hours every other weekend back and forth from Salinas to Los Angeles.

Orendorf Elementary School, a place of many memories and much learning. What was the most treasured part of each day? Recess after lunch, of course! This was the time to play silly games, like hop-scotch and jump rope, and hang out with friends to discuss the latest in “who likes who” and “which boy has cooties”. This was also the longest recess of the day. My friends and I tried to finish eating our lunch as quickly as possible because the sooner you got finished eating, the sooner you could go outside to play. After eating, Denise, Julie, and I quickly cleaned off our table, packed up our lunchboxes, and then raised our hands to be dismissed from the lunchroom. As soon as Mr. Little told us we could go, we quickly made our way from the cafeteria

Most thirteen year olds crave the attention of older kids, particularly boys. In my case, I dreaded it. I was born shy. My natural instinct when someone approached me was to look away, and if they talked to me – heaven forbid – I would smile, blush, and then quietly mumble something inaudible only to become more embarrassed. It wasn’t necessarily my fault, my entire family had a natural shyness about them. We rarely craved the limelight and for the most part it worked out just fine, that is until we were forced into an assertive role. Along with the attention, most kids want to be the kid who hits the big shot, has the token girls on his arms and is adored by just about everyone. That’s every kid’s dream – except for mine. My experience in

When Anna first entered her freshman year of high school in Mishawaka, she came in as the newcomer on the team, and certainly not the best runner with the most nimble times. All during her freshman year she was a consistent runner with pretty consistent times, but she never stood out from the rest of the crowd. She would place in the middle of the pack with plenty of people in front of her. Anna quotes herself that “She had pretty average times, but nothing outstanding. However, at the end of her season she finished as the first runner on the team, though she was still kept under the radar. She was even fortunate enough to qualify for the state meet in the 3200 meter on the track. She placed 17th in the meet. She was ready to end her freshman year and begin her sophomore year. It is important to note that while running her freshman year she had 2 broken bones in her foot, but she never noticed, because of how much drive she had. Some say Anna is like a pickup truck, she doesn't stop pushing forward until she’s blown everyone away.This just shows that the potential she had when she was young continued to carry with her into high school.

It’s strange to think that the 2009 drama about Julia child, called “Julia and Julia”, was what evoked my passion for food. Not food exactly, but the plethora of healing properties it may contain. I’m not referring to your basic scrambled eggs or buttered toast, instead, I became fascinated in aromatic Thai curries and the restorative properties of cinnamon. I bought my first cookbook in 8th grade, and prepared myself for the destructive summer ahead. Fried pans and burnt noodles stayed fragrant in the air for weeks upon their demise. Apple rinds and decayed broccoli florets filled our trash bag to the brim, trapping its stench only slightly. As any 12-year old, I eventually gave in to the hard-earned truth that it was highly unlikely

I treasured the moment. I put on my shades and walked across the hall with a determined look. I made my way backstage and was suddenly called to the stage. The spotlight was brighter than the suns ray. I foolishly put my shades back on and take a look around me. Complete silence was around me. Such a quiet, yet eerie atmosphere. Eyes across the stage followed me like a homing missile. I strum a chord and begin playing. A rough start was quickly changed whenever the music began progressing. After all, all that practice made me

My sophomore summer was ok I really didn’t do many things besides play baseball and mow hay. To begin with I was really excited for baseball to start because it’s my favorite sport, but by the end of summer I was ready for it to be over. Mostly because I started playing baseball in the middle of March and didn’t get over until the end of July.

I have really enjoyed being in school my last two semesters here at Tech. Summer semester has been a little harder than I have imaged, but I am making it through. I will be going into my third semester in the fall and my classes will be a lot tougher as well. I will work and study harder, so I can pass my classes.

My violin grants me the confidence I need to play in any performance and the strength to get through a stressful day. Between my middle school and high school days, I was encouraged to dance when I performed. I was never labeled as the social butterfly, outspoken, or anything remotely confident. However, with my violin, my fears decrease as my confidence rises. If my eight year old self was juxtaposed with my seventeen year old self, it is plain to see how much I’ve grown as a musician and as a striving individual. Years ago, I was a timid little girl who was intimidated by the thoughts of others. Today, I am willing to take risks and hope for the best. If things don’t work out, my resilience is not deterred. Instead, I look for other ways to achieve my goals and work a thousand times

Violin has shaped who I am to the extent that I am sometimes referred to as ‘the violin girl’. Many questions people ask me are about the violin. Yet, through all the ups and downs of playing through the years – wanting to quit, the exhilaration of playing Blue Fire Fiddler at age 11 in Chamber Strings, the letdown of thinking highly of my own playing and then hearing someone else play and having my confidence dashed into pieces – I find myself as a high school senior who can’t imagine my life without music. Music’s a very important part of my identity, and I wouldn’t want it any other

I obtained my violin three years ago, almost four now, I had the impression I would ever play my violin correctly, when I first put the bow on the strings, I dropped the bow, I hoped I did not fracture or break anything on it, I regained my grip on the bow, and I attempted it again, and I was able to play it but, it sounded horrid . The ear-piercing screech of the stings when the bow touched them disturbed me greatly.

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a viola recital today in Marsh auditorium here on campus. It was an interesting experience to get to visit a building and an area of campus that is not usually part of my normal routine. The event seemed fairly serious and the musician came out in a beautiful red formal dress. The young woman who performed was certainly amazingly talented and had obviously worked very hard. As she played the auditorium was deadly quiet even during breaks with the exception of clapping whenever she would finish a piece. I learned quite a lot from my experience today. For example, I learned that the viola and the violin, despite being extremely similar, are not the same. The viola is remarkably smaller than the violin,

The first time I held my viola, I was enthralled. The instrument was beautiful: it was a rust red color; I could see the grain of the wood through the varnish; its elegant curves made the instrument perfect to carry sound and beautiful to look at. I could not wait to practice making beautiful music on it.

For the sake of myself and my softball career, I continued with the lessons so I could put a smile on my parents’ faces although I hated what I was doing and didn’t understand a single bit of it. I went weeks without understanding a single thing I was doing. This continued on for about 2 months. Until what had seemed like a miracle at the time happened, The instructor had resigned! Although I didn’t think that it I would magically understand it, at least I wouldn’t be be miserable with someone who hated it more than me. The very next day, A Woman by the name of Mrs. Beck walked into my rehearsal room, we had instantly clicked! After just spending the first day getting to know one another it was time to get back to what I was really there for, learning the violin.