This I Believe
Written Communication
"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it"- molière
From about 4th grade up until 8th grade I took piano lessons from a family friend. I loved playing piano and when I first started I was determined to learn the song pachelbel’s canon in D. I knew that I would have to learn some other songs and first of all…how to play the piano before I could learn this song. Every Wednesday at two thirty I would walk to his house after school and wait till he was done teaching the student before me. I would use that time memorizing lyrics and playing imaginary scales with my fingers. When I came into class we started playing scales and exercises that would work my hands. Although I hated the beginning of class, after warming up we got to work on some songs. After a few months I thought I was ready to learn pachelbel’s canon in D, Talc, my teacher was to also. It took time to learn this song, at least two months, maybe 3 to perfect it. At times I wanted to give up and just go back to learning simple songs, chord changes and scales but I knew to grow there would be obstacles and I just needed to want it enough to jump over them. Being able to play one of the hardest songs on the piano I know when I was that little taught me so much more than a few chords. That's why I believe out of all hard and challenging things, good things do come.
Being able to play Pachelbel's canon in D taught me to be patient, determined, it taught me that things take time, friendship, trust, hard work, everything! Playing the piano taught me to set goals each week and fulfill them by the next. People may think that learning this song had no benefit to my daily life but it reminded me of what I'm capable of doing when I set my mind to something. From that time on I started setting bigger goals like learning harder chords and scales that helped me with more challenging songs. I started to really understand music and really fell in love with the piano. It opened a lot of opportunities to me and helped me with a lot more than the ability to play. It was like a a mini sticky note on the inside of my head there to remind me I can do anything I put my mind to.
The piano looked a lot like a math problem or long essay, it was challenging and sometimes utterly confusing. Ever since middle school math has been my biggest challenge, and when I would look at the problem I would get really stressed and automatically tell my self "you can't do this". Although it was hard I would look at that sticky note inside my head and do that problem, understand it, and be able to teach it. Every time I got that problem right it was like learning a new song or scale.After many tries I could do it perfectly, no mistakes. Now I love math, even though it's still extremely challenging and can be tough at times.
Although I love playing the piano, at the end of eighth grade I stopped playing because it was hard to balance my schoolwork and social life along with lessons. That doesn’t mean I quit, gave up, or lost my passion for it because I can now teach myself with everything I have learned. Without taking piano lessons I don’t think I would have the same motivation if I were have to not take it.and with that I believe whatever you set your mind to, you can do.
Why I choose this?
This piece of writing was for a school project called this I believe. We were asked to choose a statement that we believe and then write about it and relate it to our everyday life and tell a story where our belief was present. This was by far my favorite project because it gave us the chance to express not only our beliefs but tell the teacher and class a little something about yourself. After our writing was complete we presented in front of the whole trek community. It was so rewarding and meaningful to be able to see what people believed in wand tell their story. It was something that meant a lot to the class. This piece of work shows my dedication and work ethic and how I believe that anything you set your mind to, you can do!