I was eight-years-old when I picked up my first violin. I remember being led down the stairs with my third-grade class to the first floor where the music room was located. My classmates and I walked through the door with our shy faces on to find an open room with several violin cases lined up on the floor. A strange (at the time) but very happy man welcomed us to sit down. I probably looked like a lost puppy as my teacher exited the room and left us with this energetic stranger and a bunch of black cases with their contents unknown. Over the next half hour I was introduced to the violin. I was assigned a violin and instructed to open the case. The only way I can describe what happened next is to picture a bunch of excited children on Christmas morning. We opened our cases and even though we didn't know it at the time, we were looking at years ahead of lifelong lessons, friends, and joy.

I started out as an out-of-tune third-grader who could pluck a few notes on each string of the violin. In fourth grade, I evolved into a mini-maestro who could pluck and bow "Au Clair de la Lune" on my choice of the violin or cello (I chose the violin). By fifth grade, I had to make the hardest life decision yet to come: should I continue on the path of orchestra or should I switch to band? Half of the students went on to play a band instrument but I decided that I liked playing the violin and continued to stay in orchestra. At this time, I also had the choice to join chorus (which I did). Although nobody was forced to be in chorus and band or orchestra, the majority of us liked having music as part of our education.

Fast-forward four years, and I was now entering ninth grade - my first year in high school. This was a very stressful time in my life, as it was for most teenagers. We all enter high school a little scared. I was growing up and was faced with the decision of what kind of individual I wanted to be. Entering ninth grade I had a blank slate and needed to choose what I wanted to write for myself on that slate over the next four years. I confidently knew though that music would primarily be the focus of these years. Music had become the one part of my life that stayed steady. Creating music was my stress-relief. Through every low point in my life, I had always had music to fall back on to. Once you find a way to create something so beautiful and inspiring, it becomes a passion. I made it my goal to make these next four years musical. Lucky enough for me, my high school made it very easy to do so.

In my school district, the budget cut never includes the music program. We have one of the top music programs in the state, and as I stated before, the district includes music in our education starting at a very young age. The community heavily supports music in our schools due to the fact that the majority of people in the community have been impacted by this program in one way or another. These citizens have either grown up themselves in the program, have had children who have gone through the program, or have just been to the numerous concerts that our district schools hold every year. They all have personal accounts of how music can positively impact students and can help create successful young adults.

Due to the well-supported musical education my high school offered, I had many opportunities to get involved. I not only played violin in the school orchestra, but I was given the chance to audition for extra-curricular musical groups that the high school had. These groups included: The Franklin County Fiddlers, The Mt.Blue Jazz Band, The Syncopations, and The Voices. I ended up auditioning and getting into both The Fiddlers and The Mt. Blue Jazz Band. Although I had been learning violin in school, I also had a passion for playing the piano. These extra-curricular music groups gave me the chance to play the piano with my classmates. Playing in the orchestra and in these two groups not only taught me more about the instruments I was playing, but it taught and gave me much more. First, these groups taught me responsibility. I needed to hold myself responsible for learning the music and practicing in order to help the group sound and perform better. Second, playing an instrument gave me confidence. As a teenager trying to figure out where I belonged, creating music and my own personal sound gave me confidence not only when playing my instrument, but also in my life. Third, being in groups such as these and having to play in sync with my peers in order to create the perfect sound, taught me the importance of teamwork. Last but not least, being in these groups gave me lifelong friendships, connections, and memories.

As I think back on my years before college, I think of that strange yet happy man that introduced these years as a gift to me. Although there were other amazing music teachers who inspired my classmates around me, I am especially thankful for him. His passion for music truly sparks the same passion in our community, and in me. As a scared third-grader, he was a stranger to me but when I graduated high school, he was my inspiration. I am thankful for the many opportunities I was given growing up, and I cannot picture how I could have grown up without music embedded in my education. I can promise you that I would not be the same person that I am today without those many years of lessons, friends, and joy. I will forever be grateful for going to school in a community that believes that music is a sacred part of its students' education.