Music speaks the language of life. At times it is slow and beautiful, then suddenly it changes to fast and chaotic. It knows sadness and it knows joy. A song can be built to both recognize the pain felt from losing a loved one while also appreciating all their life was. In a world where emotions can be confusing and hard to bear, music creates a place of understanding. I can’t tell you when music first became a part of my life, I think it was just always there. My mom plays the flute, my dad the guitar. Years ago my family used to gather around my dad to hear him play. I loved those times. As I write this I can hear my siblings discussing a song they are listening to. If you were to take music out of my home there would be a piece missing from each of us. I love music. My first instrument was the recorder. I learned to play it sometime around first grade. I remember going to a concert where we played a song I thought was so beautiful and so sad it almost made me cry. To this day when I hear that tune I feel deeply sentimental. I can think of few other things that can do that to me. In sixth grade I decided to join a band class where I learned to play the euphonium. I loved the euphonium so much that despite my friends trying to convince me to quite band to have more time for my other interests, I stuck with it every semester through middle school and high school. When I have a long day music is my escape. I put everything I have into playing my instrument and somehow always leave feeling slightly better. I am part of our schools pep band and go to every game I can. I never miss the schools music trips, they are a priority for me. I have taken several semesters of choir and have been in four musicals. This year I joined a symphony in another town that I drive to every week just to have the experience. During my junior year of high school I decided to try the State Solo and Ensemble competition. I got a superior rating at districts and moved on to get 5th place at State in euphonium. This year I am preparing another solo to take. I have learned that I absolutely love performing solos. The thrill of working hard on my own to create a piece art is so much fun. As of right now I’m not planning on majoring in music however I still plan on pursuing it. I want to become amazing at my instrument so that I can move others the way music has moved me. I want to be able to connect with people on the level that is only possible with music. If it works with my schedule I want to be part of the BYUI music program while I get my massage therapist license at a near by school. I may not leave with the major but I hope to be called a musician. I don’t know if I will ever decide turn music into my career but it will always be my passion. I have every intention of taking my euphonium with me throughout life and am definitely not done performing on a stage. I might not be pursuing music in the typical way, but I don’t believe that will stop me from my goals as a musician.

When I was about ten years old I was given twenty dollars as a gift. I had never had much money and was completely ecstatic! I remember running down the stairs to ask my mom what I should do with it. Her response changed my life. She told me that if I didn’t have anything I wanted now, I could save it and someday when I did want something, I would have the money for it. I had a strong imagination and immediately put it to work. I thought for weeks about what I might want later in life and one day an idea came to me. I had always loved horses, in fact for my ninth birthday my parents took me to see a real pony! What if I saved my money until I could buy my own horse? There were a few problems with this idea, at the time I lived in a small house in Boise, Idaho, and sadly my parents informed me that our front yard was not big enough for a horse. Plus at the rate I was making money, I would never have enough. Despite this, I couldn’t let the idea go. For years I saved every penny I earned for a seemingly fictional dream. My siblings must have thought I was crazy when we would go to the store and they would buy themselves candy while I left empty handed all for a horse we had no room for. One day my parents told us that we were moving. I was shocked to find out that the house we were buying had a barn and a small pasture where a horse could easily live. Owning a horse was my dream, yet for the first year I found myself taking care of several goats instead. I learned to love them while working hard on our little farm, always waiting for the day I would have the money for a horse. To cut the story short, a friend of my parents heard of my dream and gave me an old horse of his named Lucky. Then with the money I had saved, I bought myself all the supplies I would need to ride and take care of Lucky. I ended up doing 3 years of horse 4H where I learned enough to later feel confident giving riding lessons to a family who like me, wanted a horse but at the time could not buy one. The feeling of accomplishing my goal was magical. I was always extremely grateful for everyone who had helped me achieve it. I decided then that I wanted to be the person who helped others in achieve their dreams. That is what drew me to the health field. I knew there were millions of people in pain every day who could not help themselves and thinking about being the person who healed them lit a spark in me that I hold to this day. This September I plan on going to a massage school in Rexburg, Idaho, and getting my massage therapist license. I choose massage therapy because the knowledge I gain can never be taken from me, and wherever I go throughout my life I will always have a skill set that can heal. I am a dreamer, there are many things I would love to try, many places I would love to see, and many things I would love to learn. In my journey I plan on doing everything I can to believe in my self and my goals. I want to make that possible for everyone.