I TOLD YOU SO! by Alexis

I TOLD YOU SO! by Alexis - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

Many long summer days I twirled around my parents small living room, singing sweetly the “sun will come out tomorrow”. I would play theater with my teetering little sister, donning dresses we had found at nearby garage sales. I cherished the smiles of my parents, the special bonding time I had with my sister, the sunlight that danced along our laminate flooring, and the burgeoning joy that overwhelmed my small soul.

When I was 6 years old I wanted to be a singer, however, as I grew my aspirations changed. . . but not by much. At 8, I whispered shyly softly smiling, that I would like to be a ballerina. At 12 years old I wanted to be a missionary: Whisked off to far off lands in need of kindness, and help solving poverty. And at 18 years old. . . I became a singer of sorts.

I firmly decided I wanted to be a Choral teacher, after my Grammy was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. My Grandma went through incredulous amounts of chronic pain. Her eyes would, daily, swell with salty streams of tears. Confusion confined her mind as her Alzheimer's advanced. Her body became emaciated, she felt hopeless ---drowned in an abyss of agony. Often times, it was during these moments that she would begin humming hymnals, and murmuring old remnants of songs long past. So, I scoured the internet in search of songs that matched the few lyrics she remembered, and then made her a playlist. Over time, she began asking me to sing those songs for her. When I sang to her, we both felt as if there was a rainbow passing over the torrential storm showers; the clouds cautiously clearing for a time as she slowly crept out of the rain, her heart rising and falling with the melodic progressions. She sensed the dissonances, the harmonies, the rhythms that related to her. Her eyes, red shot and puffy, glimmered once again with that usual fire, that typical fight, that vigor. Her and I have something seriously special.

These early childhood experiences, heartfelt moments with my grandma, along with my remarkable choir teachers and vocal instructor/mentor, the desire to give people joy, and to share with them some sunshine, prepared me to develop a lifelong love for music and teaching.

My early self always knew what I needed to do, even as I evolved throughout my education. My little mind’s career projections were a conglomeration of the things I am doing now. Like a missionary, I am on a mission to serve students through song, and to change the lives in my community. Like a ballerina, I want to softly dance through life with grace and kindness, leaving shimmers of glitter behind me as I help others attain their dreams. As a singer, I want to assist others in experiencing music. Music is the language of life, a unique and ethereal form of communication. It unifies people, interconnects hearts, and ignites emotion and change.

Currently, I am in college studying Music Education and Spanish. My aim is to teach Choir, Spanish, and to help ESL (English as a second language) students in a low income district. Ironically, my 6 year old self always knew the pathways that I needed to transverse in my life. Times changed, and I changed, but my 6 year old self was right all along. I told you so! Little Lexi would say.