Through the many stages in my life music has been a constant. I have been playing the guitar since I was twelve years old. I begged my parents for weeks to get me one and finally for Christmas I had one! My heart leaps out of my chest. My 12-year-old self was in love, and to this day I still am.

I have found throughout whatever storm or ray of sunshine in my life music has helped me express my emotions. When I first started to play I just wanted to be like Elvis Presley, my lifelong hero.

The more I realized that playing guitar was so much more than it looked. When I learned how to play my first song "Country Roads" by John Denver I felt it. The feeling of the music taking over your soul and all you can do is close your eyes and play. This feeling caught like wildfire and since that day some five years ago I have not lost that feeling yet.

Even when things got tough in my life and I felt like everyone wanted my gone my guitar called me home. While the rest of my life felt like it was crumbling the guitar note by note put it together.

Two years ago, I had felt that God was turning his back on me. My youth group was the most welcoming place for me and I saw that as God turning on me, but music showed me that God just gave me the experience to play about. That experience was scaring and still hurts someday but thanks to music I now love my youth group and could forgive the people who hurt me.

Along with helping me through a tough time in my life music also fueled my passion. When I fell head over heels in love with the Spanish language I tried everything outside of traditional learning to become a better Spanish speaker. That new desire to learn to lead me to Latin music.

The first song I ever heard in Spanish was "Lo Mejor de Mi Vida Eres Tu" by Ricky Martin and from that day on I was hooked. Not only did I love his voice but also the fact that I could combine my two loves Spanish and music into one perfect world. The more I looked into music in the Spanish world the more I loved it. This was as they say love at first sound because the guitar parts I was discovering like in "Hoy" by Gian Marco had me smitten. I have been able to learn music and improve my language abilities all in one swoop.

Music also allowed me to connect with people. At the elementary school I work at last year there was this little who moved from Colombia and yes the country of Colombia, not the city. This little boy did not speak English confidently and at this time my Spanish was well below par, to say the least. Through one of his favorite songs, we began to bound and he helped me improve my Spanish while I helped him with English. Music allowed me and this little boy to become friends and to this day he still comes by to tell about his day and just give me hug. Thanks to music I got to meet the most amazing eight-year-old on the face of the planet and he still makes my day whenever I see him.

So if you to want to find a way to express yourself, improve language skills, meet new people, or just pick up a new hobby I would highly recommend learning to play the guitar. It is so much fun and the guitar has a funny way of being exactly what you need in your life at the moment you pick it up.