I knew it from the first time my nine-year-old self saw it from the audience in the local high school auditorium. The web of shiny silver buttons and holes that encompassed the matte black instrument glittered under the stage lights as the woman holding it started to play. Little did I know that woman would become such a big part of my life in the years to come. I waited with much anticipation for the sound of the clarinet to fill the auditorium, and when it did, I was entranced with the beautiful melancholy sound. Immediately after the piece was over, I turned to my mother and exuberantly informed her in the hushed tone demanded by the performance setting, “That’s the instrument I want to play!”. Music has always been my passion, but it also the catalyst that sparked my interest in business, more specifically, non-profit business. From the age of four, my mother required me to take piano lessons. It was her rule that I was allowed to choose a second instrument at the age of ten. So, with my choice to play clarinet and keep learning piano, I’m sure my mother was regretting that rule due to the financial means for multiple music lessons. She approached the woman who had performed the clarinet solo that night about lessons, and she said yes. After the first lesson, she insisted that she teach me for free. After about a year or two of learning clarinet, my teacher had me play in the pit orchestra for one of the local non-profit community theater groups. Unbeknownst to me, it was that same non-profit that supported me through scholarships to continue to study piano later in my high school years when my family was struggling financially. Throughout my journey as a musician, I have experienced the life and joy that non-profits bring to a community, and it has inspired me to pursue a career in the non-profit industry. Entrepreneurship has always been an interest of mine. When I was a child, I set up a folding table in the corner of my room and started my own “business” called “The Aspenwood Office”. Complete with a non-functional telephone and an old typewriter my parents had kept in the garage, I was well equipped to sell the paper boxes, hats, bookmarks, and cards to my small list of clientele, which consisted of my grandmother, parents, siblings and friend. Now that I am older, I still have the same interest in entrepreneurship that I did as a child, however I now would like to incorporate non-profit into the business plan, because that’s what entrepreneurship means to me, seeing something in the world that could use betterment and making a way to do just that. My vision is to establish a non-profit called “Grace Note”, which reflects the traditional meaning of the word grace, and is also a play on the musical term, as I would like this non-profit to support young musicians who can’t afford music lessons, just as the kind-hearted people and organizations have done for me throughout my own education. As I continue to study business, music, and non-profit entrepreneurship, I am grateful for the support I already receive and hope to continue receiving on my way to achieving my goals and helping others achieve theirs.