Ever since I was little, I had always dreamt of going to Europe and exploring the culture, meeting new people, and having fun with friends, but I never imagined that I would really get to do that along with doing something that I love, making music. When I started playing flute in fourth grade, I didn’t think I was good enough so I quit until the next year and I started playing the alto saxophone. Starting in sixth grade was my first ever honors band; the John Phillip Sousa Foundation held an audition every other year in a three-day planned event, and I was excited to go down to Lowell, Massachusetts for the very first time. Since I loved the honors band so much I went back again in eighth grade, but with a new instrument, the baritone saxophone. This instrument was remarkable, it made me feel powerful and like no other feeling I had felt ever before. I mean, what can I do to someone if I’m only five feet and one-and-three-fourths inches tall? That’s what I loved about it, although, the heaviness of the metal instrument plus my height (5 foot 1 inch) is not a good combination, but it was definitely a match made in heaven!

Fast forward to the summer before freshman year and a couple days before my birthday, a group of fifteen of us from band were all headed down to Lowell, Massachusetts again, this time for a trip to Europe! I was even more excited to go down this time, we toured seven different countries, Switzerland, France, Austria, Germany, we had different groups stay with families in Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands. Our first stop was in Belgium where each of us were paired into a home with a family that we would stay with for a few days. After Belgium, we took a double-decker bus to Bonn, Germany and toured the famous Beethoven’s house and where he was born. Following the tour of Beethoven’s house, we set off for Mozart’s house in Salzburg, Austria. We then made our way to Switzerland, it was definitely my favorite branch of the trip, with the beautiful blue colored water and the great tasting glacier water that was nice and cold. Then through the country to Italy, visiting only a couple cities and then to France. First we went to Chamonix, France, when we were finished in Chamonix, our last stop was in Paris. The next day after we arrived, we went to the Eiffel Tower and climbed the stairs. There were six-hundred-seventy steps that we climbed, and definitely the most steps I had climbed in one whole stair case. This was special for us, we did get to the top of the tower and we watched the sunset. It was a gorgeous view from the top, seeing all of Paris, then once the sun went down, the lights started to sparkle and move across the bottom to the top of the tower. It was an incredible scene to behold.

This trip helped me recognize that I love to travel and experience new cultures, eat new foods and meet new people. I have learned from this trip and the experiences that have changed me, I became quieter, and although I became quieter, I am a way better listener and learner because of it. I love music, I listen to it and play it all the time and I do not think that I could live without it. There will always be a way that I will make music be apart of my life. Music to me is one of my biggest passions, battling for first place along with animals, nothing with stop me from looking or finding opportunities to play when I get older.