I love my violin. I hope to get my own someday, one that’s beautifully made. Mostly, I love to play classical music. Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Gustav, Telemann, Pachelbel. The feel of the strings beneath my fingers is magnificent. When I play my violin it gives me a phenomenal thrill.

The first time I started playing was in 5th grade. We only played twice a week for 35 minutes at a time. At first I didn’t really like the violin. I would leave it at home all the time and I never practiced. I even skipped school just so I wouldn’t have to play.

Even so, at the end of 6th grade, I still chose to be in orchestra for 7th grade. Although, I still didn’t like it. I still didn’t practice and I got a C for the first trimester. I considered dropping out, hoping to be anywhere else. But when I talked to my counselor about it, he asked me an important question: What don’t you like about orchestra? I thought about this for a while. I honestly couldn’t think of anything. Maybe it was the fact that I was told to practice. You know how teens are. So I stayed. I decided to practice, to get better and hone my skills. I also decided I wanted to play the violin forever. That was the day I started to love my violin, and that love has been growing ever since.