I've always wanted to be a musician, though my instrument of interest changed many times between the age of three and the day I could sign up for middle school band. At different points, I considered learning piano, acoustic guitar, violin, flute, and the clarinet. They were, for the most part, these soft, beautiful instruments that I felt matched my more reserved demeanor, and I wanted to be as gentle as those instruments sounded.

Then fifth grade came along, and a group of professionals played a variety of instruments for the students so we could see what they sounded like and potentially choose one. I had never once considered playing the trumpet, but from the first moment that man played his loud, bright horn, any other instrument I had wanted to play fell from consideration. All I wanted was to play trumpet, an incredibly versatile instrument which can do anything from dominate jazzy songs to sing the most sweet, beautiful runs. All the girls in my class tried to persuade me to play flute, saying trumpet was too difficult and that it was a boy's instrument, but I remember that choosing the trumpet was one of the first times I was brave enough to hold strong in the face of peer pressure.

For the first year, I played on a cheap student horn and did well, but in my second year as I was learning higher notes, I found that it was difficult to play anything much higher than a D on the horn. I made it through the fall, but at Christmastime, my parents bought me a new Jupiter student horn, just in time for the winter concert. It was so shiny, so beautiful to me, and played more easily than the other horn. Immediately, I fell in love and named it Louisa, after Louis Armstrong, and my enthusiasm for playing more than doubled.

Louisa took me through all of middle school, allowing me much improvement and earning me second chair at the beginning of seventh grade. I remained second chair all the way through my senior year of high school, and the girl who played first chair with me for all those years became one of my closest friends in school. I remember when we were younger and didn't quite have the chops to play every high note, we'd map out where to take turns faking it to give each other mid-concert breaks. In high school, though, we'd grown so much together that our two horns, Dizzy and Louisa, sounded as one, and it was such an incredible feeling to be able to play in such unison.

I played in a variety of ensembles with my Louisa, in jazz bands, in the pit for my high school's production of "Little Shop of Horrors," and eventually in the Rutgers University Marching and Pep Bands. Through all of this, Louisa played beautifully and I saw continual improvement, even as the state of the instrument deteriorated. Unfortunately, the time has finally come to say goodbye to her. After nine years of use, the horn has become scratched and dinged, and the slides and valves constantly get stuck no matter how much I clean and oil them.

Recently, and partially due to the fact that this September is my 10 year anniversary of playing trumpet, I bought a replacement, a silver Bach trumpet that I've already named Asher, and it plays fantastically. It saddens me that I've outgrown the trumpet that helped shape me into the player that I am now and exponentially increased my love for the instrument as a whole, but Louisa and I had an amazing run together. No matter where I go in life or as a musician, I'll always remember and be thankful for my Jupiter trumpet and the happiness and positive impact it made in my life.