For the greater degree, I loved my childhood. I loved growing up in a house full of brothers and sisters. I always had a playmate and there was never a boring moment. We had great family time and my mother was the most impressive cook. We all had to take lessons of all sorts from the time we were really young. I remember being forced into trying piano and clarinet from at about the time I began elementary school. In the beginning, I was rather thrilled about the piano and quite hesitant with regards to learning the clarinet.

My feelings altered rather quickly, however, when I began showing a natural talent for the clarinet. I had trouble mastering the ivories of the piano and my mouth and fingers just naturally worked together on the clarinet in ways that my mom said sounded much like magic. I believe she might have stated that simply because she wanted to inspire me to stick with the instrument for her own listening pleasure.

I'm not accurately sure when it happened, but eventually I came to delight in playing the clarinet as much as my mother loved hearing me play. I suppose I liked it simply because it was one way I stood out from amongst my siblings. In a large family, I needed to take any opportunity I could get to be different and make a name for myself. Clarinet was my chance and I grabbed ahold of it with all I could.

I opted for private lessons after school and I became a part of every local band and orchestra that would accept me. I guess my perfectionism was apparent even from these early years. All of my hard work reaped rewards when I was offered a scholarship to a well known music conservatory where I went for 3 years after high school. My parents could not be more pleased with me, apart from I believe they were a little concerned that I would not make a career out of clarinet and would be stuck poor and leaning on them.

My time in the conservatory led me to get a master's in music education and I have found my calling as a teacher of clarinet at a local university. It's my privilege to use my love for the clarinet and my talents to help other students obtain their dreams with the clarinet too. So follow your dreams, whatever they are. For me, it was the clarinet. I'm very glad that I grew up playing it.