For as long as I can remember, band has been a major part of my life. As I am beginning to learn in my journey through college, it is sometimes common to come from a musical family. Like my many family members before me, I have chosen to pursue a career in the music education field. After watching my parents thrive in the field of music, I started begging for a trumpet at the age of six. When I turned nine years old, my parents purchased me a trumpet, and my journey began. By the time I was in eighth grade, I was extremely eager to enter into the world of marching band, and in 2017, I became a performer in the marching arts with my high school band. While in their program, I had many opportunities to grow as a leader and a musician. I was blessed enough to be a trumpet section leader my junior and senior year of high school, as well as a featured trumpet in the marching shows my sophomore, junior, and senior years. While in my high school, my band program made two appearances at the Texas State Marching Band Championships- placing fourth my sophomore year. Throughout grade school, my dream was to become a Texas All-State musician, and I eventually accomplished this goal both in 2020 and 2021. I have also been a part of the Amarillo Youth Symphony and was awarded the John Philip Sousa Band Award. After graduating high school, I chose to carry on my passion for music by majoring in Music Education and Trumpet Performance at Texas Tech University where I am currently a part of the “Goin’ Band From Raiderland.” Next year, I will be a trumpet section leader for the Goin’ Band. Being exposed to a large college marching band sparked my interest in DCI again which I had been interested in in high school. Just a few weeks into my first college semester, I chose to focus all of my attention on a future in music education, and take the risk to audition for a top-tier DCI group as a rookie. I began my process with auditioning for the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps in September of 2021 and was blessed enough to be offered a contract at the first camp in December. I plan to continue my journey in the music world for many years to come, and I am very humbled and excited to learn from some of the best music educators in the world by marching with Carolina Crown this summer.

Why should you win this scholarship

I firmly believe that musicians are some of the hardest-working individuals in this generation, especially those that are pursuing music as a career. I was raised to work extremely hard at everything that I do. As a music major, it is already difficult to take ten classes per semester and adequately prepare for lessons and outside competitions like the National Trumpet Competition. When one adds the task of marching DCI to a music major’s already strenuous load, time management can get even trickier. I am currently working at a brass repair shop and teaching lessons every week to contribute to my tuition for the summer. Both my brother and I are currently in college for Music Education, which puts a financial load on my parents, who are both educators as well. For this reason, and because it is extremely important to learn the value of hard work, my tuition costs this summer are my responsibility. Although I am working in addition to teaching lessons weekly, it is still difficult to work enough hours to pay for the $5,000 tuition with my busy schedule as a music major. My passion for music is unending. From a very young age, I felt called to become a music educator. I set my mind on achieving everything that I could in order to set myself up for a successful future in the music education field. My main motive behind marching with Carolina Crown this season (and hopefully in future seasons as well) is to soak up as much information as possible in order to benefit my future students in every way that I can. I genuinely care about the future of music education and am working to become an educator that will impact the next generation of students. Earning this scholarship would alleviate some of the financial burdens that come from marching DCI, and allow me to focus more energy into bettering myself for my future students.

Why do you want to be a Marching Arts Educator?

Music has captivated my life from the moment my small four-year-old hands first held an instrument. As I ventured through childhood, band became one of the largest, most focused areas of my daily life, and through many trials and joys, I found the beauty in music. Near the end of my high school career, I realized that I could not give up music or the instrument that I had poured nine years of my life into. Going into college, I first thought that I wanted to pursue a career in music performance; however, that dream quickly shifted to the music education field because I began to feel that I could make a huge impact in the lives of future generations as a marching arts educator. My grandfather is one of my biggest role models when it comes to being a music educator. His bands were among the most successful (and for some time, the largest) in the state of Texas. I am beyond thankful for the presence of videos that I can watch to see how successful his bands were and seeing his bands on the marching field inspire me to create an extremely successful program myself one day. My father also inspires the same in me. From my experience as a marching performer, the importance of the marching arts cannot be overestimated. The marching arts have the ability to inspire children to go to heights that they never believed were possible for themselves. The marching arts teach children discipline, hard work, pride in a job well done, integrity, and companionship among many other important life skills. I have been extremely blessed to witness the impact that marching/music educators like my grandfather and father can have on future generations. I want to be a marching arts educator because there is genuinely nothing else that I would rather do for the rest of my life than make a positive impact on future generations of musicians. Music is an extremely beautiful and challenging career, and the world can always benefit from another driven and dedicated music educator that genuinely cares about enriching the lives of students.