Music has always been a part of my life, and it showed itself in many forms. Piano was my first instrument and it is what I tend to fall back on in times of joys or frustration. I expanded my musical knowledge, by learning how to play cello and then moving on to violin. I was a member of the orchestra in my high school for all four years and that is where I found how music can connect so many people. Since I was shown how big music really is, I threw myself headfirst into what ever ensemble I could be in. When I joined marching band, I found percussion and was introduced to the marimba, everything clicked. My high school band director is my mentor and will always be the person who changed my life the most. It was because of her teaching and classroom that I was driven to follow a music education degree.

When the time for college came around, I auditioned for the University of Northern Colorado on an instrument I had picked up two years prior. The percussion studio at UNC has become family and it is fun expanding my understanding about my instrument. It has felt hard at sometimes to be performing on such a new instrument, but I feel determined to let my love of music be portrayed through percussion. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn from Gray Barrier as well as my current professor, Michael Truesdell. I also have the privilege of being under Dr. Ken Singleton and Dr. Richard Mayne’s instruction through ensembles and conducting classes. I completed my BME (Bachelors of Music Education) at UNC on May 4, 2019. I am currently teaching K-8 music in Colorado Springs and plan to change the world one student at a time.