Sunni E. Fagan Memorial Music Scholarship

Music is my first language, my first heartbeat. My mother would put headphones on her belly during pregnancy, filling me with sounds before I saw the world. When I was just a year old, all that fascinated me were sounds. My grandmother made me maracas out of water bottles and rice, and drums out of empty cans of my milk. Those instruments taught me that music lives everywhere. But my passion deepened through pain. I grew up in Puerto Rico when music programs were eliminated from public schools. I had to wait until I was 15 to access free classes at my town's library. Those years of waiting taught me how poverty can silence voices before they have a chance to sing. My passion became my purpose during my volunteer work as a music teacher's assistant in Puerto Rico. The administrators explained to me that we would have a student with special needs and warned me that I had to be extremely careful. The responsibility motivated me deeply. My student's mother sat right next to her daughter throughout the entire class, watching her every move. I began with absolute patience. I always asked her permission, always asked her if she was okay. I made it clear to her that making mistakes was not a bad thing. "You just have to practice," I told her. For four months, I witnessed a transformation that still brings tears to my eyes. I saw my student begin to trust herself. I constantly showed her that I trusted her. And something magical happened: her mother began to move away. First, to a chair further away. Then, to the corner of the classroom. Finally, she stayed outside the classroom. The highlight came with the final performance. My student took the stage with the beginner band. I conducted the group, and from the podium I could see her play two complete songs in front of an audience. The concentration on her face, the confidence in her hands, the smile at the end, it was all evidence of a miracle. Today, this young woman advanced to the intermediate level. When we see each other, she tells me, "I feel safe with you." That phrase changed my life. It showed me that my gift was not just playing music but using it to heal and transform lives. That's why I switched from Music Performance to Music Therapy. Now I study at Carroll University, participating in more than seven music organizations. When I return to Puerto Rico, I volunteer with multiple organizations. Every experience at the autism school in Wisconsin and at the pediatric hospital in Puerto Rico confirms to me that I am where I am meant to be. My plan to give back to young people is to create or work for a nonprofit organization that offers music therapy and free music education to low-income children. I am a product of organizations that believed in me when I had no means. Without them, my voice would have been silent. Now it's my turn to open those doors.I don't want any child to have to wait until they are 15 to access music education. I want to create safe spaces where young people can discover their potential, just as my student did with me. Music saved me, gave me a voice and a purpose. It connected me to my true calling through a student who taught me that the greatest power of music is not in the notes we play, but in the lives we touch.

The first time that I ever performed on a stage was on my seventh birthday. It was our school's talent show that my mother convinced me into participating in. She noticed that I loved singing around the house, which was (and still is) true, and thought it would be a good idea for me to share my talent with others. I was always a shy girl growing up, so I was reluctant at first, but ended up giving it a shot, because at the end of the day why not? During my first rehearsal, I was very scared. But once I started singing, all that fear, anxiety and overthinking vanished. It was like I was a completely different person. People seemed to enjoy my singing as well, and it was in that moment that I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Make people happy with my music. I ended up joining my middle school's choir and select choir, and participated in the annual singing competition they held throughout my three years in middle school. I actually ended up placing third my first year of competition, which was a very huge deal at the time. It was very rare for a sixth grader to place ahead of seventh and eighth graders according to my teachers who congratulated me, so that made me feel very confident in myself. As I entered high school, I continued to pursue choir, select choir, and ended up joining the acapella group and drama club. I managed to earn a few solos during my time in these groups, and ended up winning Best High School Soloist 2023 during my senior year of high school at Music in the Parks, located at Hershey Park, PA. It was time for me to apply for colleges my senior year, and I really wanted to pursue music. Unfortunately, my parents were not supportive of this decision, causing me to defer my first semester of college (Fall 2023) and work full time to be able to support myself. My hard work paid off, and I was able to attend Montclair State University as a Music Education major during the Spring 2024 semester. I paid for my tuition and board by myself at 18 years old, without having to take out any additional loans. It is now the Fall 2024 semester, and instead of worrying about one semester, I need to worry about an entire school year. This scholarship would help me immensely. I would be able to pursue my career without the burden of student loans and debt. I plan on becoming a music teacher at an elementary school, and give hope to future generations through the magic of music.

I am passionate about music because it has changed my life for the better. I am autistic and music has been my outlet. I have trouble communicating at times but the thing I love about music is how it speaks to everyone. Which is something I am working on. No matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you have. Music can speak to your soul and is truly a universal language. This scholarship will give me to opportunity to pursue music education at a college level. My goal is to become a high school band instructor. I also want to teach future generations about music and the various ways it impacts our lives. I joined my high school marching band in 2020 and it changed my life for the better. I currently play the clarinet and I will be learning the alto saxophone as well. Playing in the high school marching band has given me confidence and a love for music. It allows me to meet new people and come out of my shell. Well, at little out of my shell (lol). I am a work in progress. When I was younger my mom bought me a recorder musical instrument and I loved it. To be honest, I don't think she did (lol). I would play all the time. When I got a little older I convinced her to get me some drums. Which may have been worse. But I appreciate how she always supports my dreams in music and I would like the opportunity to do the same for future generations. While being in the marching band I noticed how impactful our band instructor is. To be a good band instructor you have to be a great teacher with a ton of patience. Most importantly, you have to be able to read sheet music. I have been blessed with the gift of both. I have learned patience while assisting other students in our marching band. I love how you can see your hard work pay off each week after a performance. You can also see who is not hard-working, as well. I have seen how music can completely change the energy of a room. It can bring joy, peace, happiness, love, and pain. Music is a such powerful tool. My goal is to pass this gift on. I hope that my essay helps me get one step closer to my goal of becoming a music educator.

I am passionate about music because it is an intricate language that allows for unique experiences to occur. In my experience, listening to music and making music have been different, but what connects them is the expression and emotions they can evoke. Not only is it a form of expression, but also a community builder. As a young child, I was drawn to the violin and viola, and how cool people looked while playing them. I believe that what kept me in music ensembles and continuing orchestra during my middle school and high school years was the community that was built with my fellow peers and music teachers. I looked forward to orchestra class, to take my violin out and make sounds that would sound better year after year. Friendships I made and kept were because we had something in common, maybe not look-wise or family-situated-wise, but we could collectively look at a sheet of paper and make music together. As I look back, I can see how much the skill of learning an instrument and about music and making music with others played a role in my development as a person. Not only was I learning how to play a scale on the violin, or what a scale is, I was learning how to practice, persevere, and have patience with myself. It has been through music that I have found spaces in which I feel safe and able to express myself though the rest of my life may be in chaos. I am studying for my K-12 license in Instrumental Music Education. Few things were stable in my childhood days, and thankfully being able to participate in the orchestra programs at different schools helped keep me grounded. As an educator, I hope to be a supporter to my students, while also being someone they can look up to. I want to offer a place in my classroom for students to talk and form bonds with one another and be able to form a community connection between making music and the times before and after class that are more social. By talking with them and getting to know them, I want to offer moral support with words of encouragement, replicating what my music teachers have been able to do for me. I also plan on finding ways to make participating in an ensemble or music at school more accessible for all students. Not all schools or districts have the same backing of the arts as the one I was fortunate to be part of, so I will work to fill the missing elements, whether that be attaining more instruments for more students to participate, or talking with parents and school board members. Though music can be brushed aside as just an elective, I want to communicate to parents and guardians that it is worthwhile for their students to be part of.