Seth Nichols

Mrs. Provenza, Ms. Dennett

Communication Studies

October 10, 2013

The Power of Music

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is

music. This is a quote from Aldous Huxley, a famous author, and it does an amazing

job of explaining my belief statement; that music can change your life in a variety of

ways. Originally, I was just a ten year old boy, going through life as it came to me, not

giving a care about the little things, but music brought me not only a great talent, but

some of the most amazing experiences of my life and many of the closest friends that I

still spend time with weekly. This all started when I was in the fourth grade.

I woke up literally on the wrong side of the bed. I slumped to the floor, grabbed

my outfit for the day, along with two mismatching socks, and trudged to the shower. I

moseyed downstairs and had a very mediocre breakfast. My mom was standing in the

kitchen, and my dad was typing away on his computer while I sat at the table with my

older brother. School primarily consisted of zoning out on a spot on the wall, or a stain

on the carpet. During break I wandered the quad alone with my thoughts. This is

basically how it went for a couple weeks. New school, no friends, no extra curricular

activities, just me.

Over time I developed a steady group of companions, and some of them

remained my closest friends for many years to come, but there was still a void that I

could not figure out how to fill. One day, I was sitting in class, again, and a blue flyer
was placed on my desk. It was for a choir called VOENA. A week later my mother drove

me to my first practice as a new member of this childrens choir. I fell immediately fell in

love with the idea of music. Something inside just felt right about it; like this was where I

was meant to be. I quickly leveled up, testing into the highest level of the choir. I took up

drumming, taking after my older brother who was and is a very talented percussionist. I

brought my drumming into the choir, which just added to the amazing experience. I met

so many new people, who every week greeted me with the warmest smiles and the

tightest hugs I have ever received. They were happy to see me, and I was happy to see

them. In 2012 I flew to the London Olympics to sing on opening day in the Olympic park.

Later the choir and I flew to Ireland and went traveling around, singing for everyone you

could imagine. All of these friends, these experiences, these new talents, I would have

never found any of them if I wouldnt have accepted music into my life.

I have also found how music can easily be used to find your peace of mind. It

was a freezing cold day, even the sun seemed to be shivering from the wind. I was very

stressed out over how much homework I had and how little time I had to do it. So I

decided to let go for a little while and write a song. I grabbed my ukulele and a thick

jacket and climbed the hill in our backyard. After nearly half an hour of singing and

strumming to my hearts content, I was so relaxed that I got all of my work done with

time to spare.

These are not just stories, I am only fourteen and this is my life. I consider myself

lucky, but really anyone can have the same experience that I am having. I love my life, I

get amazing grades, and I sing and drum every day. I have a wildly fun social group,

and I never would have met half of them if I would have stayed the way I was in 4th
grade. So go take a one hour lesson, go to a music fair, join a choir, anything, but what I

want you to take away from this is that music will change your life. It certainly changed

mine..