Music is my passion and my favorite pastime.  It's a part of me.  I have fourteen years of calluses on my fingers and years of different melodies playing inside of my head, passed down for me to learn and to love by family and friends who have the same eagerness for music as I do.

 

I've never had a "real job."  Sure, I've spent my time babysitting and dog-sitting as every teenager does at some point, but I've never had a steady, 8-5, five-days-out-of-the-week "job."  My job, for as long as I can remember, has been to play, and to teach music.

 

I grew up in a small Texas town, where most of my family members owned small businesses and sat around the piano on Sunday afternoons and sang along to Elvis and old country tunes.  From the moment I could sit on a piano bench by myself, I was playing by ear while expanding my interests to other instruments.  My dad always told me that I could play anything that had a string on it if I wanted to, and I pushed myself to learn as many instruments as I could.

 

This fervor to learn soon turned into a desire to share my passion with others. Alongside playing gigs in restaurants, record recordings, and other special events, I have taught guitar lessons to students ranging from seven to fifty years old. The love that these students have for music and the hunger I see in their eyes has inspired me to continue to share my passion.

 

I have also been involved with Chords for Kids, a campus organization at TCU that shares music with Down Syndrome children.  I continue to share my love for music by playing different music jobs and by songwriting, as well. 

 

When I tell people that I'm a college student, they assume I'm a music major.  When the truth comes out that I study English, it's like I dropped a bomb.  I've heard it all: "Oh. English?"  "Well...What are you going to do with that?" the list goes on.  And to be honest, this discouragement has not made me feel any more certain about my degree or my life plans after graduation.

 

My mother went to college for a few years before finding a job, and my dad went to trade school.  My grandma had a full-ride basketball scholarship to TCU.  She got married instead and didn't take it.  My grandpa had one semester left at TCU.  He had a wife, two children, and a demanding job. He didn't get to finish.

 

Even when I don't have the drive to continue, my family has encouraged me concerning my education. "Don't be like us–go to college! Finish college!"  When I graduate from TCU, I will be the first one in my family to do so.  This is what has motivated me, even when I'm uncertain about the future, even when I do hear discouraging remarks.

        

After graduation, I plan to continue my education and receive my teaching certificate and continue songwriting and playing shows around DFW.  None of us know exactly what will happen in the future.  Even tomorrow is a mystery.  But I do know that playing music, giving others a part of myself, brings so much happiness to my heart.