Since I was little I had a passion for singing. My Dad would sing me to sleep with a lullaby every night and I would watch American Idol religiously thinking that someday I would get up there and sing "Golden Slumbers" by the Beatles as a tribute to my Dad in front of the panel of judges.

So, considering I'm not on American Idol right now, but rather sitting in my bed at college online shopping and listening to music, you can tell I did not keep up with my dreams of being the next great singer, however, I was able to keep my passion alive for a little bit while in school. But like all great passions, there are always challenges that come up when pursuing them and of course there were for me too.

In the fourth grade, I found chorus to be the perfect place for me to keep up with singing and get individual practice, but I was totally embarrassed by it. Media had portrayed kids in band or chorus to be "nerdy" or "dweeby" and knowing this I was always insecure about what others thought of me. With this being said, I still refused to give up singing.

Now as a college student, when I bring up the fact that I was the president of my high school choir my peers from high school, are shocked to hear. It was something I kept quiet for the most part because of my embarrassment, but now I realize that being in the choir is nothing to be ashamed of. The connotation that goes along with being a music kid in high school is completely wrong; being involved in music should not be looked at as weird, but rather looked at as admirable. Students involved with music in high school stand up in front of crowds and perform and learn how to read music. From what I have experienced at least, being involved in a music group takes some guts and is nothing to be made fun of.

I think the way media portrays being involved in a high school music group is what is making kids deter from participating in it. Of course, not everyone lets this affect them, but for the kids who are embarrassed by being in a music group and quit, they lose out on a ton of life experience.

My message to everyone here is to follow your passion. Do not let anyone step in your way and definitely don't let anyone else's opinion alter what you do. If you like to sing, sing. If you like to play in the marching band, play in the marching band. It is insane that we let media and other people create negative connotations around things that make us happy.

So, from one choir kid to hopefully many more out there, keep singing and do not let anyone else's opinion get in your way. I am so happy that I ultimately didn't.