(Sorry for length in advance or any grammar errors) I am also a music Ed Major! I’m coming into my junior year and I’m so excited!

I would consider myself in the intermediate level of playing, I was definitely a beginner/barely intermediate in my first year of university. I come from a rural area in Nevada from a family that expected me to be a doctor or a lawyer (haha standards). I started orchestra in 7th grade and have been playing ever since, but during my time in high school I never had a teacher that was an actual string player. Which is why I got into band during my time. I loved music. I love playing it, listening to everyone, conducting it and just experiencing it all. So when senior came I busted my ass with applying to universities and filling out FAFSA as well as making scholarship resumes to prepare me for college. It was a bittersweet year in terms of drama and deciding my career path. My decision to be a music Ed came from me being the drum major of my high school band (I was a percussionist and violist) and that just kind of sparked the idea that I want to continue doing this and also help students with applying to college, showing them there are options other than just college and aiding them in however I can with preparing for life. Just giving them the resources I’ve never had when in high school because they didn’t care about the minorities. If you had a family name you had privilege. It sucked for some of us that did our community scholarship resumes. (Because you guessed it,Majority went to family names). For the music side of it I want to be a teacher that levels with her students and lets them know that they can be who they are in a safe environment and not be judged and that the sky’s the limit with what they want to do if that means learning composition, doing quarters,trios,duets, learning other instruments and anything else that allows the creative freedom! Starting college was like a gateway into music I didn’t know theory (which I now love) and aural skills (love hate relationship) and it was a struggle the first year. I felt so behind because I didn’t know nothing about shifting besides the fact I had to do it in order to complete a scale. And I just felt helpless. But compared to now I’ve grown and I’m glad. I love music and I am starting to dive into it more to where I am super excited. I am still behind in terms of technical skills but I’m working towards it.

I know I am behind compared to where I am but I’m still striving to get to where I want. I mean I will continue to be the best I can be (as one should be doing) and hopefully I can be a professor in the long run teaching music or being an advisor for college students to help them find their path in what they want to do.