Speaking Through Music by Morgan

Speaking Through Music by Morgan - December 2023 Scholarship Essay

From the moment you begin sprouting from infancy into early childhood, your parents and other mentors focus on one critical topic: language. You’re introduced to new terms and phrases the moment you can spew your first word. What I wasn’t taught at this time, however, was how common it would be that I couldn’t quite get out the right words, even if I knew exactly what I wanted to say.

Nearly 1 in 12 children ages 3-17 have some sort of speech or communication disorder according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Being one of these children who struggle with a speech impediment, stuttering has been a present part of my life for as long as I can remember. I never knew if it was anxiety or pure circumstance that I couldn’t make out specific words or sounds. There are periods where it’s extremely terrible and others where you wouldn’t even guess I had a stutter. The times when it was worse were the times I was at my lowest. Classmates would mimic my repetitive sounds and ask if something was wrong with me. When getting asked to introduce myself, my first name beginning with an ‘M’ made it hard to pronounce. This prolonged sound was always followed by a “Did you forget your name for a second?” I’d simply stop talking or participating in conversations at school.

I ended up attending speech therapy around the age of ten. While I despised every bit of it, the techniques I was taught were beneficial to some degree. I’m better at controlling it than I used to be. Speaking was and will most likely always be frightening, there was always an instance where when I’d say words, I’d never miss a beat; it was with singing and music that I found serenity in what I was saying. I can write melodies and phrases without the issue of pronouncing them. I remember my father telling me about artist Chris Martin; someone who has the same disability that I do, living his dream as a performer. Being a language teacher may be a bit difficult at this point in time, but what I’d love to do is encourage and open others up to the magic of music. Helping create sounds and rhythms that have helped me push through rough patches is all I’ve thought of doing since I picked up the first of many instruments at eleven years old. Music is something that is always accessible and is something that has been with me every step of my journey to finding myself. The language of music was made for me, and I was made for music.

I have specifically chosen to attend Ohio University to major in Music Production and Recording Industry. Most of my high school teachers when mentioning college specifically provide job examples from the medical or business field. Unfortunately, none of these careers ever interested me as much as they did others. I wanted to enter a field that focuses on creativity as well as something I was passionate about. Everyone in the world listens to music, and it mentally has different impacts on different people. My goal in my chosen major is to positively impact those people with my creative thinking and passionate feelings about music. If I have trouble specifically wording my wisdom, I can speak my mind through the power of audio and melody, which for many other people in my position can be extremely beneficial.