What is My Passion?

Introducing My Passion

Everybody has something that they are passionate about and it just so happens that mine is music. I love all things to do with music. I took piano lessons from the most amazing piano instructor, who taught me to never give up and stay confident. There were times where I struggled to find the motivation to practice, but I did and I am so glad that my mom and my instructor never let me give up.

My piano instructor and I became close due to spending hours working on piano and also because her daughter and I have the same name. We bonded over the course of twelve years of her training me in piano. She was involved in helping me pick out my wedding dress because of that special connection that we had built.

Piano has always been my stress relief. When I am feeling down, I will go and play the piano and immediately start to feel better. It is the calm in my storm sometimes. When I started piano, I never knew that it would be that for me. Here is a video of me playing one of my favorite piano pieces.

Singing is another one of my passions. My favorite song genres to sing are country and pop music. I was singing before I was even in elementary school and I remember annoying my older brother all the time in the car because I would be singing a tune at the top of my lungs.

When I got into school, my favorite class was music. I loved the band and choir more than anything and it was the class that I looked forward to every day. I also went for the vocal solos during choir simply because I loved singing anything I got the chance to. When I got to Junior High, I got the opportunity to try out for KMEA Honor Choir. That was the moment I had been waiting for and looking forward to since I first heard of the opportunity.

I was able to participate in KMEA Honor Choir for two years in Junior High and for three years in High School. Unfortunately, one year I was beginning to get laryngitis on the day of tryouts and even though I drank lots of water, I struggled to hit my high notes being a first soprano. Every opportunity I got to sing, I took advantage of it. I competed in regional and state music year round and enjoyed every minute of it. Participating in competitions, show choir, and honor choirs were some of my favorite highlights from high school. Here are my senior competition vocal pieces.

It helps to have an amazing instructor for vocal and band. I loved being able to have the same instructor for both band and choir from elementary school all the way through high school. He was one of the best instructors that I have ever had. He truly believed in his students and his passion and love for music shined brightly each class.

My instrument that I played in the band was the clarinet. I played in the band for around seven years. The clarinet was not my first choice, but I grew to understand and love the clarinet. My favorite part of band was getting to play the melodies in pep band and competitions.

While I didn't participate in KMEA Honor Band, I did go to regional and state music competitions with the clarinet. I also got the opportunity to participate in percussion ensembles. That was the ensemble that I looked forward to every year because it was one of a kind. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the video of the percussion ensemble.

Honestly, I think most of the band absolutely loved this ensemble. Every person got a little out of their comfort zone except for the people who already played percussion. I have had the opportunity to play many different types of percussion instruments during this type of ensemble.

Presented with an Opportunity to Teach

Never in a million years did I think that I would have the opportunity to teach. Even though I have the experience, I thought I needed an out of this world degree to teach. However, I was informed by my wonderful mentor that I can teach and that I do have the experience I need to teach. This just made my dreams come true.

I cannot tell you enough how badly I have wanted to become an instructor. My husband and I would talk about it because I just wanted to start on my own. Little did I know, companies hire for this sort of thing and pay well. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I am overwhelmed with excitement. My life finally feels like it is improving. The fact that I get to teach other people how to play piano and sing is the best feeling in the world.

Honestly, I wanted to become a music teacher, but the college that I felt like I was being called to didn't have that major. Instead, I went into psychology, which I feel will only help me be more successful in being an instructor. It also helps that I have the most amazing mentor and am growing my support system every day.

I look forward to new opportunities to come.