My name is James Roberts, and I have played the piano for the last 14 years. Over the past couple of years, I have taken multiple opportunities to play at local churches, parties, and the occasional coffee shop. My favorite type of music to play is jazz music and film scores, yet I have studied as a classical pianist ever since I began. A few years ago, before I started attending college, I didn't really know what my life was going to look like after graduation high school. I knew I had years of experience on the piano, so it wouldn't hurt to continue honing that skill, but I didn't really think about how I would support myself with a career. So, I decided on law school. I even met with one of my dad's friends my senior year who was an attorney, and we took a couple hours to discuss law school. However, shortly after that meeting, I realized that I wouldn't enjoy myself in law school and music was really where I should be putting in all of my effort. I then decided to go to music school and attended a community college for a year studying music, and then transferred my second year to Louisiana Tech University to further hone my skills, which is where I have been since then. After shuffling through multiple career pathways in music, I went with music industries, which would provide dual opportunities for both performance and working with technology to create music and aid others in creating new experiences with their music. One of the other big reasons I decided to study music in college is that music acts as a central hub for my emotions. When I feel sad or lonely, I play out my emotions on the keys and I am rewarded with feelings of resolution. Whenever I play for other people, I become filled with immense joy and satisfaction, both because I enjoy having people hear my talent and because I am creating such a unique experience that bridges the gap between me as a performer and the listener. All in all, music represents an entire piece of my soul. Music is what connects me to society and shows others who I am as a person--my strengths and weaknesses, my personality, my hobbies. Music represents my role as an artist. It acts as a picture of my personality, my flaws and imperfections, and the solution to fitting into a society where my talent has been stifled by the harsh standards and obstacles built up for centuries. As an aspiring musician who has studied piano for the last 13 years, my life has been characterized and transfixed by this growing musicality. There have been times that I have strongly considered giving up on my piano talent and my heart lost all sense of motivation. However, as my talent grew, I began examining my musical journey. After a long period of musical discovery, I'd have to say that my goal is to create original music worldwide that will inspire other people to always live life to the fullest and become an icon of hope to the community.

My name is James Roberts, and I have played the piano for the last 14 years. Over the past couple of years, I have taken multiple opportunities to play at local churches, parties, and the occasional coffee shop. My favorite type of music to play is jazz music and film scores, yet I have studied as a classical pianist ever since I began. A few years ago, before I started attending college, I didn't really know what my life was going to look like after graduation high school. I knew I had years of experience on the piano, so it wouldn't hurt to continue honing that skill, but I didn't really think about how I would support myself with a career. So, I decided on law school. I even met with one of my dad's friends my senior year who was an attorney, and we took a couple hours to discuss law school. However, shortly after that meeting, I realized that I wouldn't enjoy myself in law school and music was really where I should be putting in all of my effort. I then decided to go to music school and attended a community college for a year studying music, and then transferred my second year to Louisiana Tech University to further hone my skills, which is where I have been since then. After shuffling through multiple career pathways in music, I went with music industries, which would provide dual opportunities for both performance and working with technology to create music and aid others in creating new experiences with their music. One of the other big reasons I decided to study music in college is that music acts as a central hub for my emotions. When I feel sad or lonely, I play out my emotions on the keys and I am rewarded with feelings of resolution. Whenever I play for other people, I become filled with immense joy and satisfaction, both because I enjoy having people hear my talent and because I am creating such a unique experience that bridges the gap between me as a performer and the listener. All in all, music represents an entire piece of my soul. Music is what connects me to society and shows others who I am as a person--my strengths and weaknesses, my personality, my hobbies. As I near my graduation at Louisiana Tech University, my goal is to land a steady string of gigs and submerge myself into the music industry. With my Bachelors in Music Industries, I aim to aid musicians across the globe create music that transcends the hopes and dreams of our society today. I hope that through my performances, I can share the beauty of individualism, artistic ability, and inspiration that comes from trying your hardest no matter the circumstance. Music is one of the driving forces that holds society together, and my goal is to keep building on this force in ways that help society thrive.

Ever since I was a small child, I knew from deep down in my soul that I wanted impact people with my music. In the brain of a still-growing adolescent, of course this simply meant performing for people just for pure enjoyment. However, as I progressed with my talent and pursued many different spheres of music, I learned that music is a two-sided art. Both the performer and listener play a part in weaving the tangled web of artistic ability that flows out of music. After taking this idea and tampering with it, I began playing at places not just for money, such as playing hymns for nursing homes, helping with the music in our school plays, providing general background music, etc. and after a while, I came to believe the concept of music being a two-sided art. I believe that music shouldn't be simply created for the purpose of self-satisfaction or pleasing others; it goes deeper than that. Music should convey a message; whether that be good or bad, political or non-political, spiritual or otherwise, or even a message of hope or encouragement. Regardless, I hope that through my music, I can reel in the listener to ideals such as these and spread encouragement to people across the globe. I don't want to just be remembered by my music; I want people to take what they've heard and use it as a way to transform their own lives and be a beacon of hope to others.

My mom has been a sole influence in my life even earlier than I can remember. Looking back a long time ago, it was a quiet day in the Roberts' household. Being a typical, 8 year-old child full of never-ending energy only satisfied by fun and games, I was in a complete state of boredom and I felt like I didn't have any talents that I could improve upon in the future. As the sun beat down on me, sitting outside drawing chalk on the porch, I suddenly heard a sweet, lilting tune wafting through the air, bringing joy to my ears and warmth to my bones. This sweet sound I was hearing was my mother, playing on the piano without a care in the world and singing out the psalm she had just written music for. Entranced by the beautiful tune, I slowly dragged myself off the porch and towards the music. Moments later, after shaking out of the trance I thought I was in, I all of a sudden had a huge desire to sit down and bang out a masterpiece on the piano. So, I asked my mother if I could sit down and herald music for her to hear. Without a thought, she let me go at it for what seemed like forever. Though what really came out was a nonsensical jumble of notes and weird sounds, I felt like I was transported to another universe in the moment and I knew then and there that I wanted to be a musician. Over the next couple years, my mother taught me the basics of the piano and as I started upgrading from nonsensical sound to something somewhat reminiscient of a good sound, she moved me around to different teachers. Fast-forwarding to today, I now am full-time in college living the life as a college music student, participating in ensembles across campus as an avid pianist. Without this experience at the age of 8 years old and without the what-seemed-like endless times hearing my mom tell me to practice, I would have never gone to college in the first place. Not only has my mom impacted my life as a musician, but she has also been a strong inspiration to my love of reading. Since kindergarten, she always gave me a book to read, and every time I finished one, she would give me another. As I grew older, because of this constant encouragement to read, I slowly started developing my own library of books, non-fiction and fiction alike, and before I knew it, I was blowing through 20+ books a summer. Though I have less time than I used to to read the things that I love, that love of reading has never died in me and I am always looking for ways to keep reading. Without my mom's inspiration to read, I would have missed out on a wonderful sense of imagination. As I close out this essay, my mom has given me the building blocks for many of my hobbies I know and love, such as music, reading, and even my love of puzzles. All these years growing up would have never been the same if she hadn't pushed me so hard to do all these things that make me a better version of myself, so I want to dedicate this essay to my mom and show how much I appreciate everything she has done for me.

"I hope you never change!" "You're such a meme!" These are just examples of the phrases I was accustomed to hearing during my years of high school. Back in 7th grade, I made one mistake, and this mistake branded me for a life reputation I would have to work to overcome. The next 4 years of high school were just one big picture of this mistake. My friends suddenly didn't view me as just another friend anymore. All of a sudden, I was the "funny" guy, but not in the positive definition many people might think. Before I knew it, anything I said became ridiculed in some way, shape, or form. Even my closest friends were pulled into this new trend. An "Out-of-Context" quote book was generated as a way to document how everything I said became a new and ridiculous quote. A few of my friends in the grade above me would take it to the next level by figuring out my phone password, and then proceeding to scroll through my messages to find some gold mine they could laugh at. After a while, I had no choice but to become the character that my friends were creating. I began taking my accidental humor and purposely inserting it into my everyday life. Before long, I was the talk of the school all the time. Every time I would walk into a room, I would produce some sort of reaction, good or bad, from the people in my proximity. Now, you might be thinking that this doesn't seem all that bad. After all, I was basically becoming popular. For a while, I was unsure of how to feel about the new person I was becoming. I was having fun, but wasn't really caring how people thought of me. As my senior year drew near, I began realizing that a lot of my friends had been disregarding my true human nature by making me into a meme and making fun of me all the time. The first action that I took as soon as I could was confront many of my friends and let them know how they were actually negatively impacting my life through all the humor. I was afraid at first that this confrontation would make me look weak in the eyes of my friends. Quite the contrary happened. I started gaining a higher level of respect from these same friends as I came clean about my true feelings. As a result, I felt more confident in myself and became more honest. All the humor that I had been creating around myself actually helped because I subconsciously began opening up my personality to more of a carefree one, tinged with humor at the proper moments. This translated to my music career because I became more laid back and motivated to do my best, without worrying about others ridiculing my effort. Overall, this experience really taught me to learn to build up a reputation that fully represents my true human character, not just some echo of who people think I am. In the future, I hope to work on this reputation by continually developing an honest attitude and learning to see other people as who they really are.

An aura of extreme calm settled around the cramped pews of the church as parents composed themselves as much as they could and children constantly fidgeted for fear of falling to boredom. As a hush stilled the crowd, my hands laid on the piano keys as if I were an artist about to create a beautiful masterpiece. As the piece progressed and time passed, my hands flew across the keys like an energetic spider, missing the occasional note but never stopping to meditate on my mistakes. Before I knew it, the recital was over and I was bowing to the stunned audience. This moment in time was my first piano recital, when I was just 7 years old. Though I was playing an easy piece for the beginner that I was, this moment was part of the reason I never stopped with my music. That being said, I have played piano for 13 years and never quit even when my hands ached and my heart decided to give it up. Across my years in middle school and into high school, my parents never stopped instilling musical influence into my life. My mom has been a piano accompanist most of her life while my dad performed in the Air Force Band during his time serving. Both these positions my parents held created an air of classical music that somehow always seemed to be present in our household. As my high school years came to a close, I finally decided that I wanted to do something with my musical passion. After much time, consideration, and "putting my foot in the fire" so to speak, I have decided on majoring in Music Industries, which I will be pursuing at Louisiana Tech University this fall. My life has been characterized and transfixed by this growing musicality. There have been times that I have strongly considered giving up on my piano talent and my heart lost all sense of motivation. However, as my talent grew, I began examining my musical journey. After a long period of musical discovery, I'd have to say that my goal is to create original music worldwide that will inspire other people to always live life to the fullest and become an icon of hope to the community especially in our current pandemic. During the past year, I have aspired to create a number of musical projects with my new keyboard. I developed my first official single (I've only uploaded it to SoundCloud so far) that aimed to follow in the footsteps of the Lo-Fi genre. My goal with this song is to create an album somewhere along the road strictly comprised of instrumental music or music similar to this single. Along with my keyboard, I also hope to begin composing some electronic music as soon as I have the funds to purchase better equipment to further enhance the musical scene I am trying to set. Through this major, I aspire to produce/mix/record my own music and share it with musicians everywhere I go, whether this be through performing simply my music or joining ensembles and performing the music of those that have gone before us. As of right now, I am looking at having to take on a few loans for college, something of which I want to avoid if possible. This scholarship would be extremely vital because it would help cover necessary college expenses and give me a head start on developing my own music. I am grateful for the opportunity of applying for this scholarship and I want to thank bold.org for giving me this chance!

The concept of pursuing a higher education has always presided at the forefront of my brain, though not always at such a concentrated dose. All my life, I've desired to make something of myself, but I could never figure out how to make myself stand out in the community, especially considering all the people who might be better off than I am. As I've grown older, I've began to further appreciate the value of higher education. I have been an aspiring pianist for the last 13 years and could easily denote this as my passion. In a way, higher education holds a different perspective to me than perhaps most. I don't value higher education as a way to reach the top ranks of society or anything of that nature. For me, higher education acts as the building blocks to my passion for music. In other words, I don't consider higher education to be a top priority, but I will likely pursue it because it will continue to build up my learning in all areas of music, whether I realize it or not. My life has been characterized and transfixed by this growing musicality. There have been times that I have strongly considered giving up on my piano talent and my heart lost all sense of motivation. However, as my talent grew, I began examining my musical journey. After a long period of musical discovery, I'd have to say that my goal is to create original music worldwide that will inspire other people to always live life to the fullest and become an icon of hope to the community especially in our current pandemic. During the past year, I have aspired to create a number of musical projects with my new keyboard. I developed my first official single (I've only uploaded it to SoundCloud so far) that aimed to follow in the footsteps of the Lo-Fi genre. My goal with this song is to create an album somewhere along the road strictly comprised of instrumental music or music similar to this single. Along with my keyboard, I also hope to begin composing some electronic music as soon as I have the funds to purchase better equipment to further enhance the musical scene I am trying to set. As for extracurriculars, this dual motivation for music and to at least learn some higher education has pushed me to step more out of my comfort zone and try more things. I participated in 4 years of Shakespeare Theatre at my high school, landing the lead or supporting actor role in 3 out of 4 productions. I have also driven myself to learn and become good at soccer and even a little bit of basketball, along with bowling, ping pong, and spikeball in my spare time. Last of all, I have worked on volunteering for various things like the Toby Mac tour: The Elements and smaller groups like No Longer Strangers, which is a tutoring group for refugees.

To sum up this answer in short, music represents my role as an artist. It acts as a picture of my personality, my flaws and imperfections, and the solution to fitting into a society where my talent has been stifled by the harsh standards and obstacles built up for centuries. For a long time, I struggled with determining an identity for myself and often pondered what that even meant. During my early years of high school, my identity was mainly built around being a generally humorous person and having all the friends I could have. As I started transitioning to college, this identity morphed into a more focused concept. At first, my identity solely revolved around my newfound faith in Catholicism, which began translating to all other areas of my life. Then, as I progressed in my studies at Sinclair, this identity intermingled with my role as an aspiring pianist. Looking back on all these concepts I believed to be most important to me, I’d have to say that my faith and my music are the core elements to my ever-progressing identity. As an aspiring musician who has studied piano for the last 13 years, my life has been characterized and transfixed by this growing musicality. There have been times that I have strongly considered giving up on my piano talent and my heart lost all sense of motivation. However, as my talent grew, I began examining my musical journey. After a long period of musical discovery, I'd have to say that my goal is to create original music worldwide that will inspire other people to always live life to the fullest and become an icon of hope to the community especially in our current pandemic. During the past year, I have aspired to create a number of musical projects with my new keyboard. I developed my first official single (I've only uploaded it to SoundCloud so far) that aimed to follow in the footsteps of the Lo-Fi genre. My goal with this song is to create an album somewhere along the road strictly comprised of instrumental music or music similar to this single. Along with my keyboard, I also hope to begin composing some electronic music as soon as I have the funds to purchase better equipment to further enhance the musical scene I am trying to set. This song clip that I have provided a link for represents my first official single I composed last year. Though a relatively simple tune, this song strikes true to my heart because it showcases my musical freedom and my unwillingness to strictly listen to today's social norms. The simple piano tune actually came from my extreme love of seventh chords. My favorite musical technique is when a major chord is played and then the relative minor chord of that key is played. I played around with this idea, and then built upon it by adding in little improvised licks that reflected the overall feeling of the song. I picked the rain sounds and record crackling noise to depict a very chill nightlife scene. I am also hoping to continue to grow in my singing so that I can produce original songs with the piano that are meant to evoke inspiration and a sense of calm to all the listeners. These are just some of the projects that I am aiming to complete within the next few years of my undergraduate studies, but the plan is to use them as the stepping stones to the ultimate climax of my music career.

To sum up this answer in short, music represents my "everything." Not only does music provide an escape from the ways of society, but it also acts as a picture of my personality, my flaws and imperfections, and the solution to fitting into a society where my talent has been stifled by the harsh standards and obstacles built up for centuries. For a long time, I struggled with determining an identity for myself and often pondered what that even meant. During my early years of high school, my identity was mainly built around being a generally humorous person and having all the friends I could have. As I started transitioning to college, this identity morphed into a more focused concept. At first, my identity solely revolved around my newfound faith in Catholicism, which began translating to all other areas of my life. Then, as I progressed in my studies at Sinclair, this identity intermingled with my role as an aspiring pianist. Looking back on all these concepts I believed to be most important to me, I’d have to say that my faith and my music are the core elements to my ever-progressing identity. This song clip that I have provided a link for represents my first official single I composed last year. Though a relatively simple tune, this song strikes true to my heart because it showcases my musical freedom and my unwillingness to strictly listen to today's social norms. The simple piano tune actually came from my extreme love of seventh chords. My favorite musical technique is when a major chord is played and then the relative minor chord of that key is played. I played around with this idea, and then built upon it by adding in little improvised licks that reflected the overall feeling of the song. I picked the rain sounds and record crackling noise to depict a very chill nightlife scene.

For a long time, I struggled with determining an identity for myself and often pondered what that even meant. During my early years of high school, my identity was mainly built around being a generally humorous person and having all the friends I could have. As I started transitioning to college, this identity morphed into a more focused concept. At first, my identity solely revolved around my newfound faith in Catholicism, which began translating to all other areas of my life. Then, as I progressed in my studies at Sinclair, this identity intermingled with my role as an aspiring pianist. Looking back on all these concepts I believed to be most important to me, I’d have to say that my faith and my music are the core elements to my ever-progressing identity. Throughout high school, my taste of music didn’t feel very original; all of my playlists were compiled from various artists and songs recommended by my closest friends, so the music I listened to reflected the taste of those around me. This unoriginality vastly began to change as my piano teacher, my parents, and some of my musically-inclined friends in high school began to strongly influence me, a large switch from the peer pressure I was constantly succumbing to. Over the past 19 years of my life, my household was largely characterized by albums and albums of Celtic-focused/Irish music. My mom has played the hammered dulcimer since 2000, and this was of course heavily due to the influence of this style of music. Every time we would go to sleep, we would doze off to beautiful, lilting melodies from Orinoco Flow: Salute to Enya, Sycamore Rapids, and on some nights when we were feeling particularly restless, rowdy music from The Drowsy Lads or the once-famous Full Set, two bands characterized by deep Irish roots. This kind of music has dominated a chamber of my heart for my whole life, and this influence has casually inserted itself into my taste of music, leading me to integrate many instrumental songs into every playlist I make. The other kind of music that has been heavily dominant in my household is classical music. Both my parents were brought up with a very ingrained knowledge and appreciation of classical music and this influence has become a strong factor in my music as well, leading me to build up an extensive repertoire centered around every period of classical music. Though I wasn’t super excited about this classical influence for a while, over a period of time, classical music became the most important part of my personal culture. I want to last of all add that the character of Andy Griffith has been a huge inspiration for me as well. I watched this show growing up and this character has shown me that there is more to life than living it up. He has shown me that everything I do leaves on imprint on society, no matter how small it may be.

As of right now, my favorite film of all time is The Shack. This movie follows the journey of a man who after losing his daughter in a tragic accident, is brought to his knees to escape his unwillingness to forgive a God who could've saved his daughter. This movie was very humbling to me because his journey strongly related to me, as my best friend just lost his mom, and this man's journey strongly reflected my feelings toward God out of this tragedy. Every time I watch this film, I am brought to tears; the cast was so well developed and each character melded the story together extremely well. The actor portraying Jesus felt very close to my heart and definitely got me thinking about ways that I can make my faith stronger. It is a humbling concept to consider that even the hardest of hearts can be melted by the touch of a God who wants nothing but to pour out His love for us.

As an aspiring musician who has studied piano for the last 13 years, my life has been characterized and transfixed by this growing musicality. There have been times that I have strongly considered giving up on my piano talent and my heart lost all sense of motivation. However, as my talent grew, I began examining my musical journey. After a long period of musical discovery, I'd have to say that my goal is to create original music worldwide that will inspire other people to always live life to the fullest and become an icon of hope to the community especially in our current pandemic. During the past year, I have aspired to create a number of musical projects with my new keyboard. I developed my first official single (I've only uploaded it to SoundCloud so far) that aimed to follow in the footsteps of the Lo-Fi genre. My goal with this song is to create an album somewhere along the road strictly comprised of instrumental music or music similar to this single. Along with my keyboard, I also hope to begin composing some electronic music as soon as I have the funds to purchase better equipment to further enhance the musical scene I am trying to set. I am also hoping to continue to grow in my singing so that I can produce original songs with the piano that are meant to evoke inspiration and a sense of calm to all the listeners. These are just some of the projects that I am aiming to complete within the next few years of my undergraduate studies, but the plan is to use them as the stepping stones to the ultimate climax of my music career.

COVID-19 - the pandemic that changed America. The question remains: has it changed America for better or for worst? Back in July, the answer would have been simple: the worst. I felt cut off from my friends and I was never comfortable around strangers or even people that I knew because of the new laws and safety regulations. My motivation was lacking in all my school subjects and especially with my music. As cases went up, these feelings just progressively became worse and more pent up. A few months ago, I began molding a whole new mindset. As I started adapting to the life of a student forced to do everything online, my motivation resumed its normal levels and I got used to being pent up in my house. Though I can't say that I've been okay with not seeing my friends as much as I used to due to this pandemic, my struggles have been diminished because I started shifting away from a pessimistic attitude to a more positive view of my life as it is. My musical aspirations actually became independently successful because I didn't have to worry about my peers constantly evaluating what I did and this pushed me to a whole new level of musical creativity. My studies produced better grades because I had more time on my own to evaluate my homework and allot myself plenty of time for individual studying. Overall, though this pandemic has changed the world as we know it, it has also helped me shape my identity and has helped me individually overcome the pressures of society that have plagued me throughout my life.

My family and I decided to take a vacation to North Carolina and we had the privilege of climbing Mount Mitchell! This was such an amazing experience because I had never partaken on such a journey, and when we finally reached the top, we were rewarded with the beauty of the universe before us. This second image was taken just after I played through a 19 minute memorized program for a scholarship audition on the piano. These hours of toil devoted to creating the perfect program paid off and I have used this video for countless auditions.

As an aspiring musician who has studied piano for the last 13 years, my life has been characterized and transfixed by this growing musicality. There have been times that I have strongly considered giving up on my piano talent and my heart lost all sense of motivation. However, as my talent grew, I began examining my musical journey. After a long period of musical discovery, I'd have to say that my goal is to create original music worldwide that will inspire other people to always live life to the fullest and become an icon of hope to the community especially in our current pandemic. During the past year, I have aspired to create a number of musical projects with my new keyboard. I developed my first official single (I've only uploaded it to SoundCloud so far) that aimed to follow in the footsteps of the Lo-Fi genre. My goal with this song is to create an album somewhere along the road strictly comprised of instrumental music or music similar to this single. Along with my keyboard, I also hope to begin composing some electronic music as soon as I have the funds to purchase better equipment to further enhance the musical scene I am trying to set. I am also hoping to continue to grow in my singing so that I can produce original songs with the piano that are meant to evoke inspiration and a sense of calm to all the listeners. These are just some of the projects that I am aiming to complete within the next few years of my undergraduate studies, but the plan is to use them as the stepping stones to the ultimate climax of my music career.

Across my years as an American citizen, my journey has been molded and shaped through my involvement in the community, my close friendships, and my musical passion. The early years of my childhood almost felt like a specific privilege to me, as I lived in military housing most of the time. In an abstract way, I was brought up originally in a gated community, sheltered from the tragic and bittersweet ways life can bring. This sheltered privilege started to disappear as I transitioned into later years and our family began moving into the Dayton area; this stage in my life is what exposed me to the real experiences of life, both dark and pleasant. Growing up, we were close friends with a black family who has been our ultimate cornerstone ever since we met. This experience brought us out of the shell we had been living under and showed us a little piece of society that helped shape how I lived my daily schedule. This had a strong impact on my music as well. When we lived in our "gated community," you were always told the right way to play or make music and had to follow certain rules. But as our view of the world opened up, I began to change my musical choices into a more vivid picture representing the real world. I began to acknowledge that I could listen to and make music that reflected who I am as a person rather than what my peers wanted to hear. Though we live in military housing right now, I don't feel hidden or sheltered anymore; I feel as though I have a much bigger understanding of society and how we can't let the opinions or thoughts of others dictate how we live up to our full potential.

If money weren't at the top of my priority list, my musical career would blast off right away. Currently, I am working with a relatively nice keyboard and a somewhat small speaker. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to purchase any add-ons to my equipment because I am still struggling to get tuition payments and I am currently working with a few loans. I'm currently working on creating more instrumental music with my keyboard and computer hookup, so when I can have more time on my hands and less time wasted trying to get more money, I could definitely kick up my career a notch. Another thing I've been working on trying to do is play at some local spaces in my area to make some more money, and this will become easier if I have more time and freedom because I can fully evaluate what I need to create a more developed music set up and what I need to add to the full musical experience. I've also accumulated 500 music business cards but because of my continued search to get more money, I've lost precious time trying to get my name out in the community, so I hope that the opportunity of this scholarship will grant me more confidence and freedom to make my music position more widely known. Last of all, if I didn't need to worry about how much money I needed for equipment, this would be greatly helpful for me because it would provide more opportunities to get involved with other notable music people and work with more technologically advanced set ups to give me some more ideas.

One of my favorite genres of music to listen to, particularly when I'm studying, is Lo-Fi music. I also wanted to get out of my comfort box by creating something new and radically different than the classical music I've been working with basically my whole life. The simple piano tune actually came from my extreme love of seventh chords. My favorite musical technique is when a major chord is played and then the relative minor chord of that key is played. I played around with this idea, and then built upon it by adding in little improvised licks that reflected the overall feeling of the song. I picked the rain sounds and record crackling noise to depict a very chill nightlife scene.

An aura of extreme calm settled around the cramped pews of the church as parents composed themselves as much as they could and children constantly fidgeted for fear of falling to boredom. As a hush stilled the crowd, my hands laid on the piano keys as if I were an artist about to create a beautiful masterpiece. As the piece progressed and time passed, my hands flew across the keys like an energetic spider, missing the occasional note but never stopping to meditate on my mistakes. Before I knew it, the recital was over and I was bowing to the stunned audience. This moment in time was my first piano recital, when I was just 7 years old. Though I was playing an easy piece for the beginner that I was, this moment was part of the reason I never stopped with my music. That being said, I have played piano for 13 years and never quit even when my hands ached and my heart decided to give it up. Across my years in middle school and into high school, my parents never stopped instilling musical influence into my life. My mom has been a piano accompanist most of her life while my dad performed in the Air Force Band during his time serving. Both these positions my parents held created an air of classical music that somehow always seemed to be present in our household. As my high school years came to a close, I finally decided that I wanted to do something with my musical passion. After much time, consideration, and "putting my foot in the fire" so to speak, I have decided on majoring in Music Industries, which I will be pursuing at Louisiana Tech University this fall. Through this major, I aspire to produce/mix/record my own music and share it with musicians everywhere I go, whether this be through performing simply my music or joining ensembles and performing the music of those that have gone before us. As of right now, I am looking at having to take on a few loans for college, something of which I want to avoid if possible. This scholarship would be extremely vital because it would help cover necessary college expenses and give me a head start on developing my own music. I am grateful for the opportunity of applying for this scholarship and I want to thank bold.org for giving me this chance!