The lights go dim. The stage goes black. Everything is quiet, but only for a second before the crowds’ excited whispers begin to swell. All of this gets drowned out by a groovy bass intro. The sound fills the room and my bones. The lights flash as the drummer comes in with the kick. The guitarist and singer join the mix, kicking off the first song of the night. I was 15 at my first concert, seeing my favorite band. Music has been in my life since a very young age, but that night I experienced music like I never had before. Everything came together to create an amazing feeling of connection. Since then, I have been motivated to pursue music in multiple ways. I play cello in my school orchestra, guitar and bass in a group called Wire Choir, and I have started a couple bands. One band I’ve started is called Resonate. Last spring, we were awarded one of the top three best new bands in our area and this year we were awarded best musical performance (touring and local.) What I love most about playing music is how it impacts others. Last year, I played Stairway to Heaven with a group, and afterwards a lady came up to me with tears in her eyes. She told me that her husband loved that song, and she hadn’t heard it since he passed away. She thanked me for playing it and said that it was such a great reminder of him. I will never forget that moment. I realized how much impact I could have on a single person. After performing for a while, I started to realize that it takes a lot more than the musicians on stage to put on a good show. I took a step back to look into other elements of performance and became really interested in sound. This was right around the time of my school’s winter musical. I signed up to be on the tech crew, and they didn’t have anybody to run the board, so I volunteered. During the time I was learning how to run the mixer, my school wanted to replace some of the speakers in our auditorium. This turned out to be a great opportunity for me. While they were installing everything, I hung around to see what I could learn from them. One of the workers noticed me observing and showed me some of what he knew about our soundboard. A few months later, he reached out to me about a paid internship with his company. I accepted it, and I helped him run sound for a summer concert series in my town. After working with him for a little while, I have decided that this is something I really enjoy and would like to go to school for. By continuing my education in the sound engineering field, I will be able to create impactful moments and hopefully spark a passion for music in others.

Last winter, I began attending Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings at my school. At these meetings, students at my school gather in the gym to go through a devotional together. One of the student leaders finds a devotional and leads the group in discussion about lessons in faith. After attending this meeting, I was impressed by how student-led this group was and it was refreshing to see so many teenagers passionate about their faith. I had never seen so many people my age gather to talk about faith in my community before. I realized that there were a lot of other high school students whose faith was important to them that I had never encountered before because there weren't many opportunities for students to exercise their faith. This was something that really didn't sit right with me. The following weekend, I talked to the pastor of my church to see if I could hold an event there. We set a day, and the rest was up to me. I regularly play on the worship team at my church and music is very important to me, so I wanted to create an event to share that with others. I talked with some other musicians from my youth group, and I decided to put on a worship night led by youth, for youth. We picked an hour worth of worship music and practiced for about a month. During this time, I had been inviting lots of people and informing the community about this event. We started the night with a few songs, and then I shared a short message I had written. It was about how worship is a form of praise and surrender. We turn to music in times of joy, like wedding ceremonies, and in times of hurt, like funerals. Music connects us in so many ways, more than we realize. I emphasized how by being there and worshipping together we were creating a kind of connection you might not be able to explain but you could feel, that’s the connection we were creating that night. The outcome of this worship night was a new bond between Christian students in my community. Since that December, my classmates have been asking when the next worship night will be. At my church, we are looking at making this an annual event for the youth in my community to share their faith together.

The lights go dim. The stage goes black. Everything is quiet, but only for a second before the crowds’ excited whispers begin to swell. All of this gets drowned out by a groovy bass intro. The sound fills the room and my bones. The lights flash as the drummer comes in with the kick. The guitarist and singer join the mix, kicking off the first song of the night. I was 15 at my first concert, seeing my favorite band called The Wrecks. Music has been in my life since a very young age, but that night I experienced music like I never had before. I could feel the energy that the band was creating and it was truly inspiring. Since then, I have been motivated to pursue music in multiple ways. I play cello in my school orchestra, guitar and bass in a group called Wire Choir, and I have started a couple bands. The first band I started is called Resonate. For about two years we have been playing music at local restaurants and festivals. Last spring, we were awarded one of the top three best new bands in our area. My favorite concert memory took place after a school concert I was a part of. Last year, I played Stairway to Heaven with a group, and afterwards a lady came up to me with tears in her eyes. She told me that her husband loved that song, and she hadn’t heard it since he passed away. She thanked me for playing it and said that it was such a great reminder of him. I will never forget that moment. I realized how much impact just one song could have on an individual. It was empowering to know that I helped create that moment for her. Both of these memories have shown me that music is a powerful and connecting force. Music is a power that can evoke so much emotion and joy in every person. I want to be able to bring this joy to as many people as I can. After completing an internship with a sound company in my area this summer, I have decided that I will be pursuing a career in the audio engineering field, specifically with a live sound focus. By continuing my education in the audio engineering field, I will be able to create impactful moments and hopefully spark a passion for music in others.

The lights go dim. The stage goes black. Everything is quiet, but only for a second before the crowds’ excited whispers begin to swell. All of this gets drowned out by a groovy bass intro. The sound fills the room and my bones. The lights flash as the drummer comes in with the kick. The guitarist and singer join the mix, kicking off the first song of the night. I was 15 at my first concert, seeing my favorite band. Music has been in my life since a very young age, but that night I experienced music like I never had before. Everything came together to create an amazing feeling of connection. Since then, I have been motivated to pursue music in multiple ways. I play cello in my school orchestra, guitar and bass in a group called Wire Choir, and I have started a couple bands. The first band I started is called Resonate. This spring, we were awarded one of the top three best new bands in our area. What I love most about playing music is how it impacts others. Last year, I played Stairway to Heaven with a group, and afterwards a lady came up to me with tears in her eyes. She told me that her husband loved that song, and she hadn’t heard it since he passed away. She thanked me for playing it and said that it was such a great reminder of him. I will never forget that moment. I realized how much impact I could have on a single person. After performing for a while, I started to realize that it takes a lot more than the musicians on stage to put on a good show. I took a step back to look into other elements of performance and became really interested in sound. This was right around the time of my school’s winter musical. I signed up to be on the tech crew, and they didn’t have anybody to run the board, so I volunteered. During the time I was learning how to run the mixer, my school wanted to replace some of the speakers in our auditorium. This turned out to be a great opportunity for me. While they were installing everything, I hung around to see what I could learn from them. One of the workers noticed me observing and showed me some of what he knew about our soundboard. A few months later, he reached out to me about a paid internship with his company. I accepted it, and now I help him run sound for a summer concert series in my town. After working with him for a little while, I have decided that this is something I really enjoy and would like to go to school for. By continuing my education in the sound engineering field, I will be able to create impactful moments and hopefully spark a passion for music in others.