I have been playing saxophone ever since 2018 when I was in sixth grade. I have put in a tremendous amount of hours towards musicianship during my high school career, and I have loved every moment of these experiences. Each summer I have looked forward to the start of marching season. Putting together a marching band show is a very long process with an incredible amount of work, but it is always rewarding to see the fruits of our hard work pay off once our performance is perfected. During my junior and senior years in high school, our marching band qualified for area level finals of the state marching contest. This is something that we had not accomplished in over 10 years, and we were very proud of our achievement. Individually, a noteworthy musical experience of mine was moving up from the third concert ensemble to the second concert ensemble, and then ultimately to our renowned top concert ensemble. That hard work also allowed me to qualify for the All-Region band my junior and senior years, which is a very competitive and a prestigious honor. These were all amazing experiences, but they cannot compare to one very special memorable musical experience. When I was a high school sophomore one of my grandads suddenly passed away right before Thanksgiving in 2022. My family was devastated, and I wanted to honor him in a very special way at his memorial service. I came up with the idea that I could play a saxophone solo to honor him, so I taught myself how to play his favorite Christmas song - “Mary Did You Know”. I had to search for the music online and then transposed it over to saxophone notes. I also taught my twelve year old brother (who had just started learning the saxophone) how to play an accompaniment portion of the song so that he could also participate in this special tribute to our grandfather. We spent a lot of time over the next few weeks preparing and practicing for this special occasion. When it was time for the service, I was nervous but we played the song really well. Afterwards, many people in attendance complimented us, saying that what we did was really sweet and that we played it amazingly well. As I continue to miss my grandad to this day, I am so happy that I could honor him in a very personal way with my musical gift. This scholarship would have a huge impact on my musicianship in college. I desire to continue playing my saxophone in my college marching band, and I am specifically applying to colleges with excellent marching band programs. One of the universities in which I have been accepted has such a program, and I was able to meet with the head band director in 2024. Talking with him made me very excited to pursue college marching band. I have always loved being part of the entire marching band and working together with every band member to prepare a high quality marching show. I feel that this would really enhance my college experience. I would very much like to attend this school and participate in the marching band, but it is an out of state university for me. The costs are beyond what my family can contribute. Obtaining this scholarship would assist me with the costs to attend this dream school and participate in the highly regarded band program, so thank you for considering me for this scholarship!