Music, a Miracle...

While coming into this world, I had a seizure that caused a bleed on my brain. My survival at birth was a miracle in itself. However, many problems remained latent during my childhood. I overachieved during my first years of elementary school. I have always had a love of learning to do new things, meeting new people, and acquiring new talents and skills. In short, I loved, and still love progression. However, my last two years of elementary school brought progression to a damming halt. I found it extremely difficult to write, carry out basic algebra, and even read. My 4th and 5th graders immediately gave up hope, they wanted to move me to a special education class, and they told my mother to not push me to work hard because I was physically and mentally incapable and it would just wear me out.

Even in middle school, I found myself still struggling with science, math, English, and reading. My first accelerated math teacher saw my difficulty and seemed simply appalled at me. I quote you words she said in a parent-teacher conference meeting: "I will do everything in my power to keep William out of accelerated math." I was crushed. I wanted to learn everything, and I just wanted a teacher to believe I could!

I also took up middle school band, I played clarinet and bass clarinet. Since music required me reading and doing math to subdivide notes at the same time, music was especially difficult for me. There was a major difference though. I had a teacher who did not take failure for an option. He worked with me and my fellow students and gave us a basic understanding of music. I progressed to the highest classical band in the school under his direction, it was the first achievement I had made in years. I also received 3rd place in the entire woodwind division of the solo Olympics.

In High School band I took up the saxophone, and luckily I had a band director who played saxophone, and was determined to see me succeed. He stayed after school drilling me on important scales and concepts to make me a competent saxophonist. He promised me he'd help me make honor band. And I did! That same year, I made Allstate, and the following year I was the top Allstate tenor saxophonist. All because he believed in me.

While progressing through this band program, I not only gained confidence, but I learned how spread myself extremely thin in working for what I want. I learned better methods on how to study, and my sophomore year, I was achieving straight A's progressing my way up to a 4.0 GPA. I even won the County Science fair, and received $1000. My school counselor seemed astonished as my class rank rose by the 100's every quarter. The way I did it was simple - I simply took the skills of practice and confidence I learned from band, and applied it to every subject in my life. I testify with every fiber of my being that band is what gave me the skills to succeed.

Unfortunately, my school district has already begun to take away various arts programs from schools around the states. I know I am not the only one who has been blessed by the miracle of music. These programs help kids find themselves every year and develop them into responsible, teachable students. Had it not been for band, I know I would not be writing this to you today. I know I would not have the confidence to enter into any college of my choice. I know I would not feel of any worth to society, nor have the great friendships that I enjoy this day.

If I music had been taken away from my school before I developed into the person I am now, who knows where I would be. Who knows where countless others are going with these new cuts. My heart wrenches for those poor students who wonder why they can't continue what they love. You cut music, you cut people like me down.

Friendship

We all know what we want right? We think good, long, and hard about what we want. By way of friends, we want someone we can tell everything to. We want somebody who can cheer us up on our down days and make our up days even better. When we have something horrible we want to say, perhaps we want to be able to explain it to that friend, and when we have something great we want to share, we want our friend to rejoice with us. We want our friend to love us, and enjoy being around us. We want that friend to laugh at our jokes, and to understand us. That is what we want in a friend, isn't it? Well what about OUR end in the deal.... or let me rephrase that, what does YOUR FRIEND want?

So if we all want it those qualities in a friend, then your friend wants them too. I tire of hearing people who look for leadership or responsibility in a friend and give none in return. So if you're falling off a cliff, you want your friend to help you - but, say they were to fall, you couldn't imagine how they could ever fall, and since they helped you up, they can obviously get themselves up right? - WRONG. Stop putting so much responsibility on those you care about, and take some responsibility yourself. Your friend can only hold you up for so long until he/she too must take a stumble too. As Batman's butler so eloquently put:

"Why do we fall Master Wayne? - So we can pick ourselves up again"

- butler Alfred

Everyone's going to fall. We will all have our fallacies. We will ALL have our moments when we need someone to love us and make us FEEL loved. And perhaps if your friend does not feel that reciprocated from you, he/she may decide to take a break from you. Thats fine. Do not try and bring the relationship back to its original state simply to start throwing your cares back on your friend. Give them their space as needed.

Perhaps you feel if this friend of yours steps out of your life for a moment, you will have no one to confide in. No one to take your troubles to. No one to listen and love you in an understanding way. No one who will feel quite the same way you do... Its a good thing that those thoughts are only a deception. Because there is one who knows how you feel. There is one that will never fall. There is one who knows you so personally, He knows you better than you know yourself. And if you feel alone, perhaps this is a blessing for you to turn Him, embrace yourself in His love that He so willingly gives. Rest your cares on Him, all your cares. For that is the way it is intended.

"He lives, to wipe away your tears... He lives, to silence all your fears.... Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives."

I just don't get it...

People. You are weird. I'm sorry, I have an opportunity to meet a lot of people. I have many opportunities to lead, I'm in band, I go to church, and I like to play sports as often as I can, so I get to meet a lot of people. I have a lot of friends from the classes that I'm in and the activities I do, so I'm obviously not extremely narrow minded (although I'll admit maybe I am a little.)

There are just a couple of things I don't understand about people now days.

1.) Zombies... why the heck are people obsessed with zombies? And if its not zombies, its vampires, or things that hunt such creatures. It seems like in every classroom or bus trip, I meet somebody, reading, watching a movie, or playing a game about zombies and/or vampires. And you know what? I wouldn't mind if you privately took fascination of the development of stories about these fictional, yes FICTIONAL beings, but when you try to emulate them by acting or dressing like them, that makes people uncomfortable.

2.) Leather... what is with leather? I like leather jackets, they're good looking and usually warm... but why do you wear it ALL over you? And why do you wear leather pants period? It just makes you look shady! And please don't wear it when its nearly 100 degrees outside, its disgusting. I dont understand why people wear that in an effort to be "different." You look just like all the other people who are trying to be "different," so be yourself, please!

And Im sorry but you are not like him ----->

when you where leather. I know you're trying, but he's fake. Thats why that comes from a costume store.... sorry.

3.) Long unkempt, unwashed hair... Why? I don't understand who that attracts... Hopefully not you're significant other. I mean, maybe you're trying to look like a zombie, or a bounty hunter but I just don't see how that helps everyone else? I've asked girls and 100% that I have asked say its disgusting. They also added that guys who usually have unkempt hair usually don't clean their body in general, especially their teeth.

I don't know, perhaps I seem intolerable - but I think those are relatively unusual things. And you know, I would even be talking about this if I didn't have to sit next to a guy on a bus from Nevada to Reno with those very same characteristics. If it were just one person, I would have probably forgotten about the whole thing, but it was a bus full of those people! Gross! and I see them around school. I wouldn't even have minded the guy if he didn't video record me on his iPhone.

Like I said, I have a lot of friends with a lot of different backgrounds. Its fine to be different, I like different. But isn't there a fine line between different and simply creepy? Come on. Bounty Hunter of Zombies? Really? If it creeped me out, chances are several others would have felt just as uncomfortable sitting next to as I did.

Being yourself doesn't mean being awkward on purpose. It doesn't mean you need to stand out. It just means you need to like yourself. You're clothes, or fictional jobs and fantasies do not dictate your self-esteem. Just be yourself... Please and thanks.