Growing up, my parents' sole hope was that we could take advantage of the opportunity that we have being "American". They worked as much as they can, ensuring that there was enough money to cover living expenses, all while attending & managing a church and ensuring that we are on top of all of our classwork. The lives that they lived, according to them, were not for themselves, but for us. Their motives and aspirations were strictly for their children, as because they were immigrants they couldn't own anything or achieve their own goals. As such, to them working every day wasn't so that they could retire sooner, but rather ensure that we have a good chance of fulfilling a dream that they couldn't have growing up. Every time I complained about schoolwork or activities at church, my parents would always remind me with the fact that they couldn't have the things I had growing up, and that I should be thankful I have something to complain about, because they did not. I never understood what that meant as a child, likely due to my natural incompetence as a child, but I never forgot about it. I couldn't picture my parents as children not going to school or not knowing how to do math because I never saw a child like that. I would always tell my parents that there are other kids my age who don't have to worry about school because their parents aren't as strict, and they would respond with "it's because they aren't us". As a child, I simply though it meant that my parents were naturally strict, but as I reflect back on these memories, I realize they meant that it was because those children weren't children of immigrants. Those parents did not have the same pressure of ensuring a future for their children that my parents did, because they grew up with a path to a career, and thus had a future of their own, unlike my parents who had to leave their homeland in hopes that they can improve the lives of their future generations. As I got older, I began to understand more about what my parents meant about opportunity, and I made it a promise to go to college and have a degree as their son, so that their hard work can be represented through me. I believe this mentality of opportunity and the background I grew up on has greatly shaped my work ethic and how I view the world. As I continue my pursuit of a degree in music education, I wish to use my background and identity as a son of immigrants to motivate others towards working hard in their careers as I did for mine, regardless of their background. Despite pursuing a career as a music teacher, I know the importance of having someone as a motivator and influencer to achieve your own goals, and I wish to become that role model for others through teaching music. I wish to grow a new generation of students through music so that their perspectives of hard work and achieving their goals seem more like a possibility than a fantasy.

I was always interested in music for as long as I can remember, but I was never truly dedicated to it until I started middle school. I grew up with family that played instruments, so I was always surrounded by guitars, drum kits, and keyboards. I gained inspiration from my uncles, who played acoustic guitar alongside the accordion, and I gained a lot of inspiration from my older brother, who played the electric guitar, bass, and drum set. When I learned about concert band in the 5th grade, I had begged my parents to let me join it, as I desperately wanted to follow the footsteps of my brother and at least learn one instrument. It took a lot of convincing for my parents to allow me to join the band, as they believed I should focus more on academic studies rather than the arts, but I never saw a difference between the two. After consistent begging, I was given permission to join the class, and I picked up a trumpet as my first instrument. Within a month of picking up the instrument, my teacher saw that I was putting more effort in to learning than the other students, and gifted me a voucher for a free month of private lessons at a nearby music shop. I remember being so happy to get lessons because to me it meant that I could convince my parents to continue letting me play an instrument, and to this day I have that vivid memory of getting that voucher and stuffing it in my tiny backpack, waiting to hand it to my mom so she could take me as soon as possible. Entering high school, I was introduced to a new world of different music, with marching band, indoor percussion, and jazz being the first things I signed up for as soon as it was available. I had participated in marching band and indoor percussion for 3 years, and winning our CVGPA championships for each 3 years that I participated in indoor percussion. I had also been involved in my county's honor band (Stanislaus) for 2 years, and participated in honor jazz for my senior year. If I had more confidence earlier on in my high school career, I would have participated in every program that my high school offered. I had learned about jazz my freshmen year of high school, and fell in love with it immediately. I was introduced to improv, new rhythms, and different perspectives of styles and cultures within jazz. I participated twice in a program called jazz fest, which had guests from Juilliard who taught us a bit more about jazz. I have not been able to participate in my college's jazz group due to financial reasons, but I am working on finding a solution to make it happen, as I desperately want to put myself back into that environment that I found immense joy in playing. Ultimately, I want to teach others the joy that I found in music, and I want to be able to assist others in finding their own paths through music, even if it doesn't become their main job or focus in the future. I firmly believe that music has a way to affect everyone who participates it in a positive way, and I want to put that belief into practice by pursuing a degree in music education and teaching others how to play and be involved in music.

Growing up, my parents' sole hope was that we could take advantage of the opportunity that we have being "American". They worked as much as they can, ensuring that there was enough money to cover living expenses, all while attending & managing a church and ensuring that we are on top of all of our classwork. The lives that they lived, according to them, were not for themselves, but for us. Their motives and aspirations were strictly for their children, as because they were immigrants they couldn't own anything or achieve their own goals. As such, to them working every day wasn't so that they could retire sooner, but rather ensure that we have a good chance of fulfilling a dream that they couldn't have growing up. Every time I complained about schoolwork or activities at church, my parents would always remind me with the fact that they couldn't have the things I had growing up, and that I should be thankful I have something to complain about, because they did not. I never understood what that meant as a child, likely due to my natural incompetence as a child, but I never forgot about it. I couldn't picture my parents as children not going to school or not knowing how to do math because I never saw a child like that. I would always tell my parents that there are other kids my age who don't have to worry about school because their parents aren't as strict, and they would respond with "it's because they aren't us". As a child, I simply though it meant that my parents were naturally strict, but as I reflect back on these memories, I realize they meant that it was because those children weren't children of immigrants. Those parents did not have the same pressure of ensuring a future for their children that my parents did, because they grew up with a path to a career, and thus had a future of their own, unlike my parents who had to leave their homeland in hopes that they can improve the lives of their future generations. As I got older, I began to understand more about what my parents meant about opportunity, and I made it a promise to go to college and have a degree as their son, so that their hard work can be represented through me. I believe this mentality of opportunity and the background I grew up on has greatly shaped my work ethic and how I view the world. As I continue my pursuit of a degree in music education, I wish to use my background and identity as a son of immigrants to motivate others towards working hard in their careers as I did for mine, regardless of their background. Despite pursuing a career as a music teacher, I know the importance of having someone as a motivator and influencer to achieve your own goals, and I wish to become that role model for others through teaching music.

I had always believed I wanted to be a teacher, but I never quite knew which type of teacher I wanted to be. I had found some subjects to be interesting to me, like science and history, but it never fit right to me with pursing those subjects as my teaching career. I was fortunate to have many great teachers throughout high school, and I like to think that I take inspiration from each of them, but I had hit a stalemate in what I wanted to do during high school in terms of teaching. It was then in my Junior year of high school that my music teacher, Mr. Winkler, had asked me if I was interested in a career in music, and this is what led to my decision today. Despite being involved in music programs for almost 8 years at that point, it never once came across my mind to teach music, likely due to my parent's idea that music doesn't pay well, and that I should only consider it as a hobby and not as a genuine route for a job. However, I had always noticed how highly educated my music director was and his knowledge in a lot of other subjects despite his major being music education, alongside his genuine passion for creating music and teaching others how to perform it. My music director had originally wanted to be a performer, but realized that he enjoyed teaching far more than he did performing, as he wanted to show other people how to play, and more importantly, enjoy music the way that he did. I take massive inspiration from him and the way that he taught me about music, as his methods and perspectives of music as well as life had inspired me to take after him and pursue a role in music education. Mr. Winkler also taught me the importance of valuing my own choices, as he assisted me in deciding my career, and had helped me every step of the way towards auditions and the recording processes for them. He had motivated me to audition for honor bands and other extracurricular programs in music, which would later on prove to assist me greatly in my college resume. On top of motivation, he became an inspiration and a guide towards my playing style and how I view refining my skills as a whole. Throughout the four years I spent as his student, he had demanded a lot of effort with every piece that we played, allowing no room for failure, teaching us a skill that would later apply outside of music. This skill that he taught me formed a lot of how I developed my mentality, allowing myself no room for complacency, and always putting my maximum effort in anything that I do, either in music or outside of music. Because of Mr. Winkler, I had developed a profound passion for both music and teaching, and because of this he has motivated me to become a teacher so that I can continue the cycle of becoming a good role model for future students and to those who wish to become a music teacher. I want to continue the model that he gave to me in hopes that others can benefit from it and form their own paths in education within music.

I was always interested in music for as long as I can remember, but I was never truly dedicated to it until I started middle school. I grew up with family that played instruments, so I was always surrounded by guitars, drum kits, and keyboards. I gained inspiration from my uncles, who played acoustic guitar alongside the accordion, and I gained a lot of inspiration from my older brother, who played the electric guitar, bass, and drum set. When I learned about concert band in the 5th grade, I had begged my parents to let me join it, as I desperately wanted to follow the footsteps of my brother and at least learn one instrument. It took a lot of convincing for my parents to allow me to join the band, as they believed I should focus more on academic studies rather than the arts, but I never saw a difference between the two. After consistent begging, I was given permission to join the class, and I picked up a trumpet as my first instrument. Within a month of picking up the instrument, my teacher saw that I was putting more effort in to learning than the other students, and gifted me a voucher for a free month of private lessons at a nearby music shop. I remember being so happy to get lessons because to me it meant that I could convince my parents to continue letting me play an instrument, and to this day I have that vivid memory of getting that voucher and stuffing it in my tiny backpack, waiting to hand it to my mom so she could take me as soon as possible. Entering high school, I was introduced to a new world of different music, with marching band, indoor percussion, and jazz being the first things I signed up for as soon as it was available. I had participated in marching band and indoor percussion for 3 years, and winning our CVGPA championships for each 3 years that I participated in indoor percussion. I had also been involved in my county's honor band (Stanislaus) for 2 years, and participated in honor jazz for my senior year. If I had more confidence earlier on in my high school career, I would have participated in every program that my high school offered. I had learned about jazz my freshmen year of high school, and fell in love with it immediately. I was introduced to improv, new rhythms, and different perspectives of styles and cultures within jazz. I participated twice in a program called jazz fest, which had guests from Juilliard who taught us a bit more about jazz. I have not been able to participate in my college's jazz group due to financial reasons, but I am working on finding a solution to make it happen, as I desperately want to put myself back into that environment that I found immense joy in playing. Ultimately, I want to teach others the joy that I found in music, and I want to be able to assist others in finding their own paths through music, even if it doesn't become their main job or focus in the future. I firmly believe that music has a way to affect everyone who participates it in a positive way, and I want to put that belief into practice by pursuing a degree in music education and teaching others how to play and be involved in music.