I started playing the cello at the age of four, at a community music program in Baltimore, Maryland. I went on to continue taking private lessons outside of school as my school didn’t offer any additional music classes other than the standard curriculum of a small classroom choir occasional drum circle. I went to a public charter school and can confidently say the funding for arts was slim. I kept playing cello though, determined to get everything I could out of it. I got into BSYO (Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras) in the sixth grade and played with them until my junior year of high school, this shaped my playing in orchestra and chamber music for the better but still wasn’t enough to get me at the level I needed. My goal was conservatory. The cost was already a strain on my one-income (middle class) household and entering Peabody Preparatory academy at the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins was not an option. I would watch videos of cellists my age and wonder what I was doing differently to where they were so much more technically proficient and playing lots of recitals, or even winning competitions. BSA was an incredible experience, we were given masterclasses with cellists from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, ample performance opportunities, and even interdisciplinary experience. I decided to leave BSA and try to get into Interlochen Arts Academy because my good experience got less and less as I was there. I wanted to get into a conservatory, but most of my teachers told me I wasn’t going to be good enough because I didn’t have the experience. I was compared to the Peabody Prep. students in the cello section. This infuriated me. So I applied to Interlochen, and got in. I had to appeal about three times for financial aid, but when I got there I was finally given the treatment every young musician deserves: teachers who believe in them, and have the resources to believe in them. I believe that the arts are important to society because of this, as well as first-hand experience working in schools that don’t have well-represented arts programs. The reason that most symphonies are predominantly white is not a coincidence, most of these people had access and were given equal opportunity from a young age. It is infinitely harder for a young black student to look at a symphony orchestra and be inspired by the players if none of them look like this kid. If there is no exposure to that kind of music or those instruments to demographics that aren’t white and male then symphonies will continue to look the same. Organizations like Sphinx are doing this work through touring, holding masterclasses, hosting competitions. This promotes Black and LatinX voices in classical music settings and gives these underrepresented voices resources that will develop their musical careers. I want to be a part of this movement, at the level that I can be. Teaching music in schools, introducing every student that wants to the musical level they can be a part of. I don’t believe anyone is born with a gift, one thing that means they will be an incredibly musician. I believe that every single person who picks up an instrument with love for it and motivation is capable of anything, all they need are the resources and people to be available to them.