I am an incoming freshman at the University of North Texas, where I am pursuing a Bachelor’s in Music (piano performance). As a musician, I realize the burden encountered by my fellow peers – both at home and abroad – in not only devoting a lifetime to the development of this craft but also the financial aspects (fees, materials, tuition, etc.) which drive the course of their progress.

With such issues come the dimmed prospects of many of these aspiring young artists, leaving much talent unrealized and even more so the opportunity to ever develop those talents to capacity, thus robbing these hopefuls of the dreams which inevitably consumed countless passionate, solitary, bitter, and often hellish hours as a musical voice strains to be heard in the world. This, coupled with personal dilemmas unavoidable in certain circumstances, makes such endeavors as scholarships and financial aid absolutely imperative toward setting the foundation for creating the life envisioned by the willing heart and that is the unique, rare promise of the American Dream.

As a child of divorced parents, I can only say I know in my own heart that same feeling of resentment…when your voice cannot be heard…the anger, when you know something very endearing is taken away…the pain, when there seems few places (and even fewer people) to which you can turn.

With this scholarship, I am thankful not for the fact that I’ve received $1000 for a weekend spending-spree at Hollister’s (though tempting as it may be), but for the fact that I am $1000 closer to achieving the life I begin to seek as I enter the University of North Texas…a journey which begins August 27, 2009 and shall continue for the duration that I am on this earth, for music is the universal language of the soul, and its discovery is truly the wonder of those who dare to seek it. And, though this financial incentive will likely be overwhelmed within the next year, or the next month, or perhaps even the next week, I will always be grateful I had this rare and vanishing opportunity to further my place in the 21st century society and the beacon of hope so characteristic in living the strong belief of the American Spirit.

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