During my junior and senior years, I was very involved in my community and had several opportunities to be a leader. I am a section leader for the school marching band, a supervisor at work, and the cross-country team captain. These positions had drastically different expectations, yet I acted the same. I always strived to be likable, determined, and motivating. I loved being a section leader. I directed weekly flute section rehearsals and corrected the section's posture and marching formations. I am a determined leader, so I always showed up early, with my part prepared, and settled for nothing less than my best. I led by example and tried my hardest to motivate my peers. I encouraged other members to participate. To be well-liked, I always cracked jokes, told stories, and choreographed dances for the drum cadences at games. I have made a good mark on my section and regularly get asked to return as a freshman with a fake identity so we can continue the fun. After a year of working for the City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation Department, I moved from teaching to a supervising position. As a supervisor, I give a speech at the beginning of each week explaining expectations to children and parents. Even though I am a musician and rarely get stage fright, constructing comprehensible sentences in front of dozens of people was terrifying. I butchered my first one and dropped my binder, said kids' names wrong, and explained poorly where each court was. However, as a determined leader, I didn't let this get me down and did much better the second time. In this position, I assigned courts for instructors. I considered who worked well together and what people liked to teach. I had to balance instructors' wants against what the students needed. As the cross-country team captain, there weren't any expectations from my coach. However, I organized runs during the pre-season so that we could prepare for the official season. I compiled everyone's numbers and made an accessible group chat for all of the girls to use. Additionally, I regularly set up days where the team would meet at a local boba tea place to get drinks and play card games for team bonding. Outside of this, I advised the younger girls and pushed myself in races for them. If I thought I couldn't do something, I reminded myself they counted on me. We inspired each other to do our bests. In ninth grade, a senior took me under her wing and helped me find my love for cross country. To repay this favor, I talk to any underclassmen I see during warmups. I'm shy, but I've gotten better at having conversations. The team is the closest we have ever been, and I'm happy to leave behind such a tight group of girls. I always strive to be the best person I can be. While I liked to take charge, my involvement was meaningful because of my connections with the people I was around. With these meaningful connections, I hope I motivated someone else to be their best, continue with the activities I led, and maybe even become a future leader.

I was entirely out of my wheelhouse when I decided to learn trombone. I mainly play woodwinds, so they utilize similar fingerings and methods of making and reading music. Woodwinds read treble clef, use reeds, and have keys. Trombones read bass clef, use brass mouthpieces, and have slides.  Before my junior year, I played flute, piccolo, clarinet, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, piano, bass, ukulele, and EWI (electric wind instrument). It’s the best feeling to pick up a new instrument, make the first sound, and grin at how terrible it is! It motivates me to improve, and I’m constantly striving to improve my musicianship. One of the trombonists in my school jazz band quit over the summer, leaving us with a hole. Instead of playing my assigned second alto part, I read the trombone music, transposing it on the fly to cover the missing harmonies. I quickly got annoyed at how the trombone parts sounded on the alto. There was only one solution: to learn the trombone.  I talked to the band director, received a one-minute lesson on how to set up and hold the trombone properly, and took home a school trombone that day. I put the trombone to my face, took a deep breath, and buzzed my lips. I sounded like a dying moose! I laughed and readjusted. Slightly better this time! I continued this process until I sounded less like a suffering animal and more like a beginner trombone.  Feeling ready to conquer my parts in jazz band, I started an extremely focused practice session the next day. I went note by note, measure by measure, piece by piece, extremely slowly. I repeated this process every day for a week, getting slightly faster and more accurate each time. I then felt ready to play with the band.  I was very nervous about the first rehearsal. I would be sitting next to some of the best trombonists in the state. However, I didn't let this scare me away. I had a job to do. Three weeks later, we had our fall concert. I had been playing for a month and was still nervous playing in front of others. We performed our four tunes, and my knees knocked as the audience clapped. I played well. But I knew I could do better.  I continued practicing for hours and hours each week, bound and determined to become a better trombone player. I taught myself everything and never took lessons. I developed a powerful low register and began playing the bass trombone parts.  After working for another six weeks, we had our winter concert. Our assistant band director (a fellow low brass player) came to me after the performance and said, “You’re no longer a flute player who plays trombone. You’re just a bass trombone.”  Not many people can play instruments, let alone ten. I knew I wanted to help out the band, and I went against the norm to do so. In the future, I want to continue to be involved in music, as it brings me and others joy to perform and listen to. Learning the trombone taught me I am capable of more than I think, and I plan to use this in all of my future endeavors. The Eldorado High School Screamin’ Eagles Jazz Band has a long-held tradition of excellence and commitment to making high-quality music. You are supposed to audition for this ensemble and earn your place. While I didn’t audition for my place, my musicianship, hard work, and relentless dedication proved that I deserved my seat anyways.