Someone who would inspire every younger version of myself in all aspects of life.

On the "boring" surface level. I love playing music and I can't imagine a day without playing. This is fine and dandy for many people but isn't usually reason enough to major in Music Education and make it a career, maybe for some, that's all they need, but not for me. The main reason I went from a "hobby musician" to a "let's pay ten grand a year to get a college degree in playing good and teaching others the joys of drums” is that I love connecting with people and there are few things in this world that connect humans better than playing music and speaking a common language. If it wasn't for the friends I've made and people I've met through music I honestly probably won’t even be here today. Music has been my anchor in life. I struggled a lot with depression during my couple of years in college and since then I have learned quite a bit about dealing with mental health and how beneficial music is in learning to cope with daily stressors as well as the positive effects it has on not just mental health, but even physical and emotional health. My desire to play percussion, especially drum set, has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. The only music option I had at my middle school was learning to play the guitar. While that wasn’t as “cool” as playing drums it was better than nothing. I would say that’s where my passion for music began, but the life-changing moments in music didn’t come until I was in high school. I was finally able to join the percussion ensemble and the RHS drumline, as well as buy a drum set all within 6 months of each other. However, I can’t help but wonder how different my musical journey would be if I could have started percussion sooner. Don’t get me wrong the guitar is an amazing instrument, but no matter how many chords I learned or songs I could play, the guitar still wasn’t the drums and I longed to play them instead. That’s why I especially want to teach middle school because the impact of music on them could literally be life-changing as it was for me. I want them to have the access to an incredible genre of music sooner than I could. Now I am not technically studying any foreign languages as part of my degree, but I do find them fascinating. I had always wanted to learn Spanish and potentially other languages, but was never sure where to start. However, earlier this year had discovered a language program at my local library and started using it here and there. A couple of weeks later I had landed a summer job at a warehouse packing seeds and had discovered that many of my co-workers only spoke Spanish. After about a month and some dedicated practice, I decided to put my very limited vocabulary to the test and began speaking to some ladies at lunch. It was amazing! I absolutely made mistakes and we kept the conversation short and simple, but I couldn’t believe it. I was talking with those around me on a whole new level! I also realized could reach and connect with way more people if I could teach percussion in both English and Spanish! With Percussion and Spanish, I feel like the sky is the limit with what I can do to connect and teach in my community and there is honestly no better feeling for me.

I would finally buy a nice drum set and a couple of amazing books like Jim Riley Survial Guide for the Modern Drummer! Even though I'm a drummer studying music at an amazing university I don't have a nice drum set or books of my own. I've always had to practice on someone else's drum set and if I can't do that I have a practice pad and some magazines I play on instead which definitely leave a lot to be desired. Having my very own drum set would literally be life changing for me and my studies.

Listening to calming and encouraging music has been a major life line for me. It gives me something to hold onto and ground me. Playing music with others has also helped me reach out to those around me and almost always ends up helping both of us. Prayer and scripture has also helped me come closer to God as well as bring comfort and peace. Although none of these have just made my problems disappear they do help lessen the "load" and make dealing with depression mich more manageable.

Lone Survivor by Matthew Lutterll and Patrick Robinson. It's an eyewitness account of Operation Rewing and the lost heroes of SEAL Team 10. It's about dedication, sacrifice, perseverance, brotherhood, courage, survival, and trauma, and tells of a miracle in the midst of tragedy. I love this book because it's unapologetically real. The compassion and empathy I felt while reading Lone Survivor is something I can feel even now as I write this. There aren't enough words in the english language to express how much this book means to me, or how much gratitude and respect I have for our armed forces because of it.

"There is no shortcut to excellence and competence. Education is the difference between wishing you could help other people and being able to help them." - Russell M. Nelson I live by that modo and it's never steered me wrong. In fact nothing, in my life has been more impactful than going out into the world and learning as much as I can and using the knowledge I've gained to help those around me for the better. Education changes minds and changed minds change the world, and I want to change the world.

We need to improve our ways of making sure kids actually know material before bumping the up a grade. I don't know about other countries, but in the US it takes very little to jump up to the next grade. In music, if an individual can't play a piece or can barely survive long enough to hit the majority of the notes, the teacher doesn't shrug their shoulders and say "close enough, let's move onto something harder". We would either spend more time on the piece or work on other things that help us to improve our technique and knowledge before we come back to the original piece. Otherwise that student never actually learns to master their instrument and will probably quit because after x amount of time because they can't do what they set out to do. The same thing should apply to other subjects. If a student doesn't know the multiples of 3 or 4 then why are we moving on to the multiples of 5 and 6 before they're ready. We know that teaching calculus to someone who doesn't understand algebra is ridiculous, so why do we do that very thing to kids in elementary school. I speak from personal experience when it comes to moving up grades with just enough skill to "play the majority of the notes" if you will. I was quite skilled in math and science. However, my english/reading ability left much to be desired. As I got older I struggled more and more and my C's in elementary school started to turn into D's just before junior high. Luckily for me when I was about 13, I had a couple of teachers notice my lack of reading skills wasn't from a lack of trying and knew they could something to help. Twice a week doing our advisary period, I had one on one time with each of those teachers to improve my reading comprehension and ask questions I was unlikely to ask in class due to embarrassment. While those afternoon weren't much time in the grand scheme of things, they were some of the most impactful I had in my early school career and even helped me get into college because even after I stopped getting one on one help, I used the tools I learned to keep improving on my own. Your life can change completely because of one incredible teacher, so imagine what our education system could be like if it was also as incredible as Mrs. S and Mrs. E who helped me during advisory period in the 7th grade.

You have to start small and close to home. Most of the time people think of a world changing career they think of something in STEM or maybe doctors and nurses, or whatever it maybe, and more often than not a musician doesn't even make the bottom of the list, let alone one that wants to teach middle schoolers. However, I dare say a music teachers can in fact change the world just as much as anyone else. It will take much more time and we may not reach as many people in our little corners of the world, but music has the power to bring people together. To heal emotional wounds or bound friends for life. We can release anger we didn't know we were hilding on to, or reminiscent on a lost memory. It can liven a party or clam anxious mind. Playing music teachs many life skills like discipline, patience, self-control, non-verbal communication, confidence in one self, teamwork, mental resilience, honestly the list goes on and on. Just as importantly it can also help us to process and gain emotional maturity. We can learn empathy and compassion through the notes we plays. So, you maybe thinking. "That great and dandy, but how does strumming a guitar or smacking a drum change the world?" To put it simply. It doesn't. Music has no effect of the weather or traffic and there isn't musch use for it at an election or in the court room. Be that as it may, music can help individuals become the change the world needs because people do effect the environment around them. Imagine if the world was filled with patience, self-controled, confident, mentally resilient, emotionally mature human beings who know how to work with others? Would it be so crazy to think that those amazing citizens were once middle schoolers trying to learn to read sheet music? That all those hours of hard work on their instruments wouldn't also impact how they study for difficult test or subjects? That playing in a band didn't help them work with their peers to finish a group project? It's though small and simple things that great things come to pass, and we all got to start somewhere. As for me, I'll be starting in a classroom of a middle school somewhere in the corner of the world.

I want to work with middle schoolers and as a music therapist. I didn't have the opportunity to start playing music until I was in high school, but I fell in love with drums and percussion at 13 years old and having to wait four years was tough. I know there are kids out there in the same boat and I don't want them to have to wait. During my career as a musician I've learned a lot about the positive impact it can have on someone's mental health. I personally deal with depression and part of what I do to manage is playing music. I mostly play percussion, but I also enjoy piano and guitar. I think everyone should play an instrument reguardless of how good you are or want to get, but being self taught can be frustrating. I also think everyone can benefit from therapy, but just sitting down and talking with someone can be hard especially if you don't have the words. However, music help us to accept, process, and share emotions before we even fully understand them ourselves. As a private lesson teacher, middle school music teacher, and music therapist I will be able to help so many people enjoy more out of life through music. I honesty can't imagine myself doing anything else for the rest of my life.

My family got our dog Zeus (miniature schnauzer) when I was 4 years old and he passed away a couple years ago. In the 17 years that he was a part of my life he taught me a lot about patience, love, confidence, loyalty and friendship. He never got frustrated with me or himself when learning tricks, in fact he would just keep trying until he couldn't get it wrong. He was always willing to wait for me to get home from practice or finish homework so we could go play together. Despite his small stature, he was always ready to protect us from anybody no matter how big the "threat" and his confidence when playing with dog 3 times his size was alsmost inspirational. During some of my hardest times he was there. Being himself snuggling me and just with me no matter what and I could always count on him to be there in rain or shine. So, what does that have to do with me? Well because of him, I try my best to be patience with myself and my classmates when we're learning new material. I'm willing to wait to hang out with people because I know some of them are busier than me. Because of him I'm on this website trying to be as bold and confident as possible and I'm trying to be more confident in my playing as a musician and own the concert hall like he would even if there are musician how have been playing 3 times longer than I have. It's because of him that I've become the kind of person that my friends and family can lean on during their hardest times because I'm there being myself and loving them no matter what. I'm sure I'll go do and be a lot of places in my life, yet no matter where I go. Zeus will always be with me because even though he's not here in person with me he's loyalty to those he loved in life is unbreakable. And my loyalty to him is unforgettable. ❤

My family got our dog Zeus (miniature schnauzer) when I was 4 years old and he passed away a couple years ago. In the 17 years that he was a part of my life he taught me a lot about patience, love, confidence, loyalty and friendship. He never got frustrated with me or himself when learning tricks, in fact he would just keep trying until he couldn't get it wrong. He was always willing to wait for me to get home from practice or finish homework so we could go play together. Despite his small stature, he was always ready to protect us from anybody no matter how big the "threat" and his confidence when playing with dog 3 times his size was alsmost inspirational. During some of my hardest times he was there. Being himself snuggling me and just with me no matter what and I could always count on him to be there in rain or shine. So, what does that have to do with me? Well because of him, I try my best to be patience with myself and my classmates when we're learning new material. I'm willing to wait to hang out with people because I know some of them are busier than me. Because of him I'm on this website trying to be as bold and confident as possible and I'm trying to be more confident in my playing as a musician and own the concert hall like he would even if there are musician how have been playing 3 times longer than I have. It's because of him that I've become the kind of person that my friends and family can lean on during their hardest times because I'm there being myself and loving them no matter what. I'm sure I'll go do and be a lot of places in my life, yet no matter where I go. Zeus will always be with me because even though he's not here in person with me he's loyalty to those he loved in life is unbreakable. And my loyalty to him is unforgettable. ❤