Assignment 19- Katie Demos

I can’t pinpoint a specific piece of advice that changed my life and really deeply affected me, but I can definitely identify an experience. Last year, this exact week, I was at all state. Idiot sophomore me rolled up to the Galt House hotel, feeling like a million bucks because I had made The Top Band at all state. I was on cloud nine and was untouchable. 10th grade and in the top ten flute players in the state?! Colleges had better watch out for me! Strutting in with my luggage for the weekend and an extra high ego in tow, I was ready to kill it. But how was I planning to do that when I didn’t care about music and hadn’t practiced the music for the week for more than 20 minutes tops? When I arrived to the first rehearsal, I promptly began to converse with kids around me and tried to act like the Cool Kid™. Upon meeting my director, I didn’t realize what greatness I was in the presence of, until 30 minutes into the rehearsal, she stopped us in a particularly hard section I had trouble with. Looking almost directly at me, she said “I am disappointed right now. You kids are supposed to represent the best of your schools, and yet some of you sit here, incompetent, even after having been given the music in advance.” I remember paying more attention after that. That week, I learned more about myself than I ever had before. How could I have ever acted so unprofessionally in a rehearsal, crossing my legs or checking my phone every 20 minutes? I had an amazing opportunity in front of me, and until about the second day, I had been squandering it. As the week went on, I learned about and played music entirely differently. I felt deeper, discovered a new dimension of myself emotionally, and really found myself and what I wanted to do. This powerful, female conductor changed my life. She lit a fire in me to work harder in whatever I do and accomplish my dreams through determination. To this day, when I listen to much we played, I cry. My life has never been the same since that week.