Personal Narrative: I Believe In Music

Music. When I started in the band in 8th grade at Saints Francis and Clare, I didn’t really want to be there. It was just another class, in another day, of my last year of school. This began to change after I realized all of the amazing people I met in the band. Band led me to be happier and become friends with people who I never even knew I would meet. It has even lead me to a path that I would like to go into in the future. I love music and band so much that it has made me want to teach it or join a band as I go into college and just for the rest of my life. Through music I have even had the opportunity to meet some very amazing people, and I have been able to work next to some of those people.

Throughout my life, no single thing has had a greater impact than music. It has made me who I am today, and I cannot remember a time when music wasn’t a huge part of myself - my earliest memories all contain the music that my parents played. Beyond being a product purely for enjoyment, as it was for a long time in my earliest years, music has gone on to become a fundamental part of who I am, how I spend my time, and who I spend that time with. It motivates me to be better for numerous reasons. I credit my early involvement in music with most of the successes I have had to this date.

In the end, the beautiful sound that is music brings us is the one of the best ways to connect us all to one another. Music is a way to communicate and show a little piece of us to

Music: it is beautiful in many different manners. I'm many lives and cultures, music plays an essential role. I am Hispanic, and since i am bilingual my family and i listen to both Spanish and English music. Music plays an important role in every culture and in every individual's life just like it affects mine.

It had been a cool winters morning as I walked through the school. “Morning Callum,” my friend called out as I placed my bag into my locker and then carried my guitar into the school’s hall. Our Jazz band had been selected to play on assembly, so I, along with the other members of the rhythm section, turned up early to set up. Setting up the stage for Jazz band mainly involved ensuring there was enough stands for the horns section. The remainder of the preparation was spent on setting up the drum kit, vibraphone and amps for the guitar, bass and keyboard.

Once you spend a lot of time with friends, there comes a point where they are no longer just your friends. They’re your family. I have spent years in the Marching Band Color Guard, girls have come and gone, but our team was always strong. My second year on the team we got the chance of a lifetime. We got the opportunity to march in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. With this opportunity at hand, many extra practices added to our schedule. We practiced every Saturday from 9 in the morning to 9 at night. We were practicing in freezing cold weather, spinning and dancing, freezing our hands off in order to get good.

I have always admired the art of music. It amazes me how, as people, no matter how varied we are, music is apart of life. Even for the deaf, music vibrates through them and into their soul like electricity. The thought that at some point in history someone thought that some loud clunky sounds could be organized to softened and magnificent. That someone thought people would enjoy this, and now we're here separated by slight differences of culture, language, and vast oceans to be connected by the serenity that is music.

I truly believe that Perpich would be a unique and valuable experience for me. I want to gain the new experiences - new environments, new people, new ideas- available to me as a student there. I am hoping for the opportunity to study somewhere better suited to the way my mind works. I would like to explore who I am as an artist more deeply. I want to pursue the quest for a strong sense of self. The opportunity to be part of a high school that

I am a singer.  Even though in High School I was not the lead in the Spring Musical, or the recipient of the coveted "Chorus Award" every year, that never kept me in the background. I began sending my demo to anyone who would listen, and after a handful of "No's," I got a "Yes."  Yet, the rejection only made me work harder, and rigorously hone my voice in the months to follow. I relate to anyone who has ever felt out casted or left out, and I will work tirelessly to make sure every student feels accepted, and appreciated for their talents, regardless of what it is or how "loud" it may be. In times when conformity tempts your insecurities, Dr. Suess once said,"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those

Hursey taught me everything I know about music theory. Before I took lessons from him I didn't know there was more to music than just pretty sounds. He taught me key signatures, time signatures, counting, playing long tones, and listening to my vibrato. While my grandparents would have been ecstatic if I would have gone to Jazz Camp at SWU, as they called it, my heart was set in a different place. The Governor’s School of the Arts and Humanities Discovery Program for rising ninth graders. In order to get accepted to this two week camp, I would have to memorize all of my scales, play two contrasting songs, and go through an interviewing process. I applied and was accepted two consecutive summers at the Governor’s School. At the school I made lifelong existing friends and I was mentored by genous teachers which molded me into the musician I am

Music connects all the communities of my life, ranging from the exuberant, fast-paced tempo of Bollywood and Bhangra music to melodic harmonies while singing acapella tags. As a child, music ruled my life as I learned how to read, speak, and count numerical values. Singing in the car and singing along with songs helped me develop my ability to articulate and understand language.

“William, it’s your lesson today, start practicing! I’m paying for you to learn violin, not to waste time playing with Rubik’s cubes!” This used to be a common occurrence on Wednesday’s, the day of my violin lesson. My mom would screech at me to start practicing, and I would wave her off and pretend to practice for twenty minutes.

Music, it's a part of everyone's life. From childhood sing-a-long songs, to garage grunge music, and everything in between music is everywhere. Growing up with an extremely musical background it was in my genes that I would become a musician. Playing music has helped me become the person I am by being a release for my anger, broadening my future and make new friends..

People say that music has the ability to heal a person mentally and spiritually. But to me, music is much more than just healing. It is a way for me to escape this world called reality and enter a world with in my imagination through the different beats, harmony, and chorus. Only when listening to music, I can truly feel all my emotions with each song having the power to make me remember, from painful to happy memories. As I grew up to be the person I am today, my music journey also grows with me. Looking back at it now, I would never want to change a single thing.

At Topeka High, there are many extracurricular activities students participate in. Activities such as sports, choir, band, debate, theater, ROTC, and many different clubs. However, vocal music is an activity that consumes every waking minute of my day.