My life without music would be like a night sky without stars. I would live and breathe, but my life would lack a certain sparkle that music provides. There wouldn’t really be a true purpose to my existence. I believe that music has changed my life.


It was around 4th grade when I started noticing that I didn’t fit in that well with a lot of kids in my grade. While the other girls were starting to wear make-up, style their hair, and only wear fashionable clothing, I stayed the same. I was a short-haired, turtle-neck-wearing, run-around-at-recess kind of girl. At first I didn’t care, but then I started to feel a little funny. Why didn’t I act like all the other girls? Did some of them not like me? I became self-concise, although I didn’t let it show. It was in 5th grade that my Mom found a local voice studio. I had always loved to sing, and taking lessons seemed like fun. Little did I know that I had no idea what I was getting into. I was thrown into a brilliant, glittery world of music. Something inside me just clicked, and I had finally found where I belonged. Music gave me a place of my own in the world.

Starting voice lessons was the first of many times that music has altered my life. In 6th grade, I really didn’t fit in at the middle school. Being an athlete is what made you popular, and I’m not super athletic. Music saved me again. Every day I knew I could come home from school and sing. I would become someone else. I would let the music fill my body and shine its light in the
darkest of corners. The light gave me strength. I became friends with other people who were into music. Music gave me courage.

There is one music-moment in my life that stands out. Two years ago, my Pop-pop (my grandfather) passed away. It was the first time I had ever really lost anyone close to me. I felt like crying all the time. My thoughts were foggy and I sometimes felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I never really got to say goodbye because he was in a hospital in Pennsylvania. I sang at his funeral. The song was my final gift, my final goodbye. Whenever I hear the song
I sang, I know it’s a message from my Pop-pop. Music helped me truly say goodbye and let him go.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Life without music would be a mistake.” This is true for me. Without music, my life would be a mistake. Maybe I would have found another hobby, but I doubt that it would help and change me the way music did. I know that music has changed my life.