Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I began piano lessons at a very young age, and was immediately set on a path that would define the rest of my life. I was taken by many instruments as I grew up, but I eventually hit my stride in high school when I began getting serious about the trumpet. During my time spent in the workforce putting my Commercial Music degree to use, I discovered that performance and education are my true passions. It is with this in mind that I have decided to pursue a master’s degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Alabama. During my time at Western Carolina, studying with Brad Ulrich and attending regional trumpet events, Dr. Eric Yates was always spoken very highly of, and I hope to study under him during my …show more content…
After graduation, I relocated to Fort Wayne, Indiana to begin work as a Sales Engineer for Sweetwater Sound, Inc, a retail company that specializes in musical instruments and pro audio equipment. I enjoyed my time at Sweetwater - the first several months of employment are spent in a training program called Sweetwater University, a very intensive education course intended to bolster your knowledge of not only the product but the theory and technical skills behind them. During training, I also spent a great deal of time learning about communication and financial skills. However, while at Sweetwater, I quickly discovered that my real passion was not music technology, but performance - I was always yearning to play my trumpet, and decided to relocate back to North Carolina to pursue performance and education opportunities there. My time spent working locally back in NC solidified in my mind that graduate school was the right path to take, and I believe that the communication and life skills that I learned throughout my employment will be valuable as I pursue higher