I will never forget the day all schools in my state were shutdown. Previous to that moment, we had not had very many COVID-19 cases in my area, and did not view the pandemic as a serious threat. We were by no means prepared for what was to come. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and things were slow at my job. My boss and I sat in the office, working and talking casually. Suddenly, one of the educators burst into the office on the verge of meltdown. They were shutting down every school in the state for the rest of the year. I was terrified. At just sixteen years old I cried on the way home from work that evening, accepting the horrifying news as the end of the world. This was serious, and my life would never be the same. Although I did come to realize that life as we know it was not coming to an end, 2020 was a life-changing experience for everyone alive to witness it. I lost a lot to the pandemic, including most aspects of my senior year, but it has been the single most important learning experience of my life. The major lessen I believe the pandemic has taught everyone is to stop taking things for granted. As a society, we have learned that anything can be taken away at any moment. Family, friends, jobs, health, safety, easy access to groceries, many of us have experienced life without these things sometime over the last year, and it has helped me realize that there is nothing in this world that should be taken for granted. Nothing is guaranteed, and I wake up thankful for everything I have every single day. Additionally, the pandemic has taught me a lot about the role I play in my own life. Before the pandemic, I was always with somebody, and I didn't have to lead my own life. I went to school, I went to work, and I spent time with my friends and family. Rarely, if ever, did I have to control my own days, but when the pandemic struck all of that changed. Without school, work, or friends, I had no choice but to learn to spend time with myself, and commit my time to finding out what I truly enjoyed. Spending time with myself allowed me to realize what I truly wanted from life and who I wanted to be. Although the basis for my plans for the future has not changed, I believe this experience has given me an entirely new approach to life. No matter where life takes me, I will always be exactly where I am meant to be. I will never take life for granted, and I will never stay somewhere that doesn't make me happy. Because of the pandemic, I now live my life for me, and I make decisions that are in my best interest. Because of the pandemic, I am me.

My family's piano sat dormant in our small living room for four years. My great-grandfather was self-taught. When he touched the keys, he came alive. With his fingers, he could light up any room. He had a tune for every occasion. He was, without a doubt, one of the most vibrant and brilliant men of all time, and he left his piano to his brand-new great-granddaughter on his passing. So I was born to play. I began taking lessons when I was just shy of five years old. I hated them. I dreaded the half-hour I was required to spend at the piano every evening after dinner, and even more so the hour I had to spend in my instructor's living room every Tuesday afternoon. I had another problem, though. School came very easy to me. I flew through elementary school, never once did I have to blink at an assignment. Never once did I score less than an A on an assignment, and never once did I have to put more than ten percent effort into school. As can be expected, the more I grew the more I got bored. I didn't want to do my work because I thought it was a waste of time. I didn't need to go to school because no matter how much I missed I would be able to make it all up in a week's time. I didn't need to do my homework at home because I could start and finish it while my teacher collected it from my classmates the next morning. One afternoon, when I was in the sixth grade, my instructor smiled at me brightly as I sat down on the piano bench for my weekly lesson. "I have a song for you," She said as she held the biggest stack of sheet music I had ever seen out to me. My classmates were learning the Star-Spangled banner on their school-provided violins that week. I didn't say anything as I flipped through pages of "GYMNOPÉDIE NO. 1." She usually let me pick my own songs. It looked easy. I didn't want to play it. Through my full lesson, I sight-read the music, constantly being berated for the quickness of my tempo. Many times she would start patting her leg to show me how fast I should be playing. I left frustrated. I was going to learn to play that song. Every evening that week I spent hours playing that song. It struck something in me. For the first time, I saw what I was capable of. The value of applying yourself to something and seeing it all the way through revealed itself. I saw what it was like to do more than the bare minimum, and it was a feeling I would grow attached to. That song changed my life. Since then, I have learned to challenge myself as an individual and to push myself to be more than I am required to be. Instead of allowing myself to be shaped, I grow in my own way. I know I can do anything I set my mind to, and I use my music as an expression of that. I wish that experience on anybody who has been in that boat. Discovering one's passion is life-changing in so many more ways than one expects. With my music, I hope to inspire others. Regardless of whether they can relate to the content of my music, I hope they can feel my story and even see themselves in it. I want to help them find that passion.