Listening for a Change

There are plenty of kids in public schools all across America who have devoted their lives to music and it’s beauty. Some get the privilege of attending a private school where they will almost endless opportunities to enhance their skills.Others will make it big as performers starting very young. But, on average, the majority of students will take what few courses are offered at their high school. As one of those kids, I find going to school to be quite a challenge in itself. At my high school, the typical courses in music; band, choir and orchestra, are offered.

And while there are opportunities such as national level marching band or honors level choirs, there isn’t much opportunity until you become an upperclassman and have more space in your schedule for electives. There’s also only two music theory course, which means once you complete them, you can’t advance further or try other music classes. For someone like me, a student who dreams of writing his own music and hopefully performing for a living, it is past the point of frustrating that there are such few opportunities In current education systems in America, an interesting hierarchy has formed. You have math and English at the top of the list, then history and world language and at the bottom are the arts. The arts are not nearly as valued as they should be, considering all the health benefits they can provide to young students. It can help students to better understand math, or have sharper reasoning skills, and some students can learn what their life’s mission is at an early age.

But instead, we are neglecting to enforce the amount of music that students can learn. And as I say this to you, understand I am not here to berate the American Education System, or any education system for that school. My audience is the students who struggle to find peace at school when they’re not in their music classes. School can be stressful. classes get harder, you take more standardized tests, and inevitably you have to decide what college you want to go to to further your education.

But to me, a music kid, nothing is more important than learning all I can about the one thing that I truly understand. The thing that keeps me up until 2 am because I want to work on my pieces. And being able to take classes to learn more about the thing I love is incredible. I havelearned so much from my time in band, choir and music theory I don’t want the learning to end. So, to all the other kids out their who love music but don’t have the same opportunities as other kids, trust me, I understand. But things will be better, high school doesn’t last forever, and soon you’ll be sitting in your college class, learning how to invert toad chords.

Or you’ll be on stage, conducting an orchestra that’s playing a piece you wrote. You may even be on the radio singing a new version of one of your favorite songs. The possibilities are endless, and you’ll finally be with the thing you love, the music that keep you going so you could finally reach your moment in the sun.