I’ve aspired to be a professional musician for over ten years now. I took private lessons. I played in ensembles. I searched the internet for the best information, from the greatest musicians in the world. I practiced a lot. I studied hard, all so I could go study music on a university level. I knew exactly where I wanted to study the mastery of my craft, so I only auditioned for that one school. I was accepted with a scholarship for music composition, but after three semesters I started to fear that the path I was on would not lead me to success. I made the drastic decision to leave school, knowing that I’d lose my scholarship, to prepare a new audition. A former teacher had recommended apprenticing myself to a specific professor here at Rowan. I trusted my teacher, so I auditioned. My first Rowan semester was the fall of 2013. Admittedly, It was strange to be a freshman again, but I took advantage of it. I studied under the professor recommended to me. I played in ensembles. I searched the internet for the best information, from the greatest musicians in the world. I practiced a lot. I studied hard. I really started to thrive here, and in many more ways than just music. …show more content…
I always had a dense schedule, so I figured I could handle a job too. As it turns out, being at school all day Monday-Friday, closing retail five nights a week including all of my weekends, and practicing until 4:00 am on the remaining nights was not my best idea. It was a soul crushing experience to say the least, and it completely rewired me. Once again, I became afraid that all of my hard work wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I was afraid that the “real world” wouldn’t care about the skills I had developed. I was afraid that all of the personal growth I had made here at Rowan did not