Assignment 1 Danielle Dutton

Hi! My name is Danielle Dutton. I was born and raised in Lexington and live with my mom, dad, younger sister, and dog.

I didn't have a most meaningful moment of my summer, but I did have a most meaningful six weeks. I took part in the Sister Cities exchange program between Lexington and Deauville, France. In mid-June I left to spend an amazing three weeks in France living with my correspondent, Louise, and her family. Getting to be a part of another culture and speak and hear only French was an amazing context in which to experience France. I got to see all the tourist attractions without feeling like a tourist. I grew very close to Louise and her family in those short three weeks, which made coming back to America with Louise hard, and saying goodbye to Louise after her three weeks with my family here in Kentucky even harder. Here's a picture of Louise and I at Versailles.



After Louise left, I got back to my regular life, and by that I mean music. In the fall I play flute in the school marching band, and in the spring I perform in the school musical. That being said, listening to broadway musical soundtracks and professional wind band or orchestral recordings definitely geeks me out. While growing up, my dad sang to me a lot, and I think that's where my love of music began. Now, much to my mom's chagrin, there are often overdramatized renditions of almost anything sung around our house by me, my dad, my sister, or a combination of us. My dog even joins in sometimes. I spend much more time than I probably should listening and singing along to the soundtracks for Les Miserables, Hamilton, and Dear Evan Hansen to name a few, so my favorite website is https://www.youtube.com/, where I can listen to as much as I want, whenever I want, for free.