College Admissions Essay: How Music Changed My Life

I demonstrated how much I enjoyed a song while managing to forget my minor concerns. I became content with my performances, not bothered by mistakes. It was my freshman year with my older brother that brought me back to my love of music. Each performance was not just showing what I could do, but a chance to enrich and live my life. The true joy was not only in sharing my music, but devoting myself to something

I have always been a particularly musical person. When I was younger, I wanted to become a singer when I grew up, but upon joining the choir in elementary I realized I did not have the talent for singing that I thought I had. Continually singing off key and never sounding as good as my peers did, I decided to confine myself to singing at home where only my family could hear me. Despite this revelation that I was, in fact, a terrible singer, I still wanted to participate in some type of musical performance and decided to join the band in middle school. After trying out various different instruments, I settled on the flute and quickly fell in love.

My identity is wrapped up in my love of music because I have been surrounded by it since I was little. When I was a toddler, I would sit for long periods of time and watch videos of kids singing songs. As I grew older I participated in my church's children's choir and even held solos in my elementary school chorus. When I reached middle school I joined my school's middle school chorus in 7th grade as an alto and 8th grade as a soprano. The transition between 8th and 9th grade was important for me because I took up voice lesson in 8th grade and went to my first music camp the summer before 9th grade.

It was really discouraging watching her find her gifts at age twelve and I was fifteen and wasn’t good at anything. I tried a lot of different classes to see what I was good at. I tried chorus in middle school, theatre, and volleyball. Until I finally found my gift.

At a young age, I constantly wanted to express myself through music. I always found a way to incorporate music into my daily life, whether it be by blasting my favorite music, creating my own funky songs, or even having the opportunity to participate in my elementary school choir. My love for music actually took flight after I had decided to join my elementary school choir, however, in my opinion, it is not the most transformative moment in my life. After elementary

The experience at school was a defining life moment for the transition because it caused me to be an independent individual. The school had a very demanding level of study with a very burdensome load of work. With this big work load I was taught, and learned, how to work at professional level in both my academics and my artistic requirements. I also had to learn how to get my work done and also practice my vocal technique in a timely fashion while keeping my mind and body healthy.

Many times we would be in the car singing and dancing to the tunes she would blast through the speakers. It was not until my middle school days when I began to grow an appreciation for more than just pop, country, and Disney music. It was my first day of 6th grade and I walked into my choir class. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Grady, standing by the door welcoming all of us students by singing. In that classroom, there was an abundance of happiness and joy and because of that I began to associate those feelings with music.

It was really interesting because sometimes I would sing lower than Collin! It was weird at first, but at this point I’m used to it. Now we only practice once a week with Cornelius, since there are multiple groups that need to practice! A lady by the name of Mrs. Crawford would come in during the week, in the morning, and Cornelius would give us times to have lessons with her. Mrs. Crawford is an older lady, but she has lots of experience in the field!

Despite my passion for athletics, I have spent the majority of my high school career involved in show choir. I participate in the Executive Session at Sauk Prairie High School. Show choir incorporates training under professional choreographers, undergoing numerous voice lessons, and traveling the country for competitions. This self-disciplinary activity pushes me to work hard and strive for perfectionism while taking leadership roles in a professional environment. Furthermore, show choir allows me to impact others through my performance and to take risks.

When I was 62 in 1997 I had surgery for the non-cancerous nodules on my vocal cords to be removed. That surgery permanently ruined my vocal chords, ending my singing career. My beautiful soprano voice gone overnight. Sadly, my singing career came to a close, but that gave me time to focus on another passion of mine: acting! Time for my next big hit, “The Princess Diaries.”

The opening performance was in one week and I had a long way to go to perfect the music in time. After the first practice, I felt disheartened. I did not believe in myself enough to learn and perfect the music. Not wanting to give up, I slowly began picking up more notes each day.

One-hundred and fifty students stared out at the audience, heaving after singing their final note at the All-State Honor Choir Conference. Among those kids was Janie Hawkins, a five-foot-two, singing powerhouse. All state choir is focused on learning music and perfecting skills, so when Janie got in, she received music at home before the “conference.” She and other students tried out in September, received the music and then stayed in Eugene, Oregon. After two days of practicing for the performance with her choir peers, Janie and the choir finally did the performance and had to say goodbye to their new-found friends at the Eugene Hult Center.

After high school, I decided that going straight to college wasn’t the right path for me at the time. I wanted to sing and dance. Then my

It was as simple as that. A love for harmony, both in music and in life washed over me. It was this love that guided me through my freshman year of high school. My artistic side grew, expanding past simply the choral arts. As the spring approached, excitement grew in the arts department.

Music has always been a part of my life. In definition, it is “vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.” Ever since I was a young child, I have loved music. The strong, steady beats, the entrancing melodies, and the lyrics that vary between heartwarming and heart-wrenching have always had an unexplainable effect on my life. Music seems to have the ability to change certain aspects of my world. Even with my moods, whether it is sad or mad, music will help me get through it. It has absolutely been an enormous part of my life and who I am. Thus, this is to say that I have musical talent. I am in a high school marching band, where I play any piano-like instrument. My viewpoint with music has come to a simple conclusion, without it, I would not know who I am or what to do with my life.