C1 Choice Essay

This post is an essay I have written on an important choice that I have made in my life. In this essay, I explain what the choice is that I made, and how it impacted my life for the better.

~

"Sometime you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you." (Forman)

As a young child, I didn’t possess many strengths of a talented musician. And actually, it was quite the contrary. Regardless, my parents started me on the violin when I was about eight years old. Despite the fact I was musically challenged, I did improve, only not at the pace one would expect. But this was largely due to the fact I had no desire to go above and beyond of what was required of me. And unfortunately, I took that attitude in many aspects of my life. One day, when I was about ten, I was doing some casual yard work, and I accidentally severed my left index finger with a pair of hedge trimmers. This accident ended my career as a violinist. Over the next several years, my parents urged me to pick the violin back up, but I had no such aspirations. Alternatively, I chose to learn to play the piano. This choice played a much deeper role in my life, because it taught me more than just how to play the piano.

            What desires did I have, and would I strive to achieve these desires, regardless of the talents I possessed? These are questions I should’ve asked myself in concern to my life. Instead I would find the easy way out; I wouldn’t go above and beyond, and I would do the minimal amount necessary. This was evident in many areas of my life. From school work to chores to sports. However, there were events that took place in my life that required me to ask myself those questions, and take action regarding them.  

            Let’s go back to when I was ten years old. At this point, I had about two years of violin under my belt. And to be completely honest, I did not enjoy it very much. On a sunny afternoon, I was outside doing some hedge trimming with my father and my older brother. We were nearly finished trimming all our bushes, and only had about two bushes to finish, when I decided to clean the excess leaves off the top of the bush we were working on. There was some miscommunication between my dad and me, and he wasn’t finished trimming the bush, so as he trimmed I simultaneously swiped and my finger caught between the blades of the hedge trimmer. Fortunately, I was able to save my finger; however, I had lost feeling in it due to the nerves being severed. Because of this accident, it made playing the violin difficult; for example, techniques like vibrato became very cumbersome. As a result, I decided to quit the violin.

            It wasn’t until I was about fifteen years old when I decided to learn to play the piano. I had to choose an instrument, because my parents wanted me to discipline myself in an area of my life, and I knew it wasn’t going to be the violin. Would the piano present the same challenges as the violin did because of my finger? Comparatively, no, but it had its own sets of challenges. The violin required much more feeling and finger technique. However, as the strength of my finger grew from practicing the piano, what once seemed difficult became easy.

Due to my late start in piano, I knew I had to learn quickly to get where I wanted. Unfortunately though, I hadn’t improved my skills of discipline, so was I up to the challenge? Well, I am a fast learner, so I picked up on the basics in no time. And I still retained some knowledge in reading notes too. But how far would that take me? Definitely not to the level that I wanted to achieve. At least I was setting goals for myself; I knew I wanted to improve and I had something to strive for. As I attained certain goals that I set, my desire to achieve the next goal would become stronger than before; which in turn, made me become more disciplined in practice and effort to achieve other objectives. Of course, I had to perform in recitals, which built up confidence, and sometimes would teach me humility. My old habits of avoiding responsibility and lacking initiative were being replaced with new, better habits. I was learning what discipline was, and how to discipline myself; I began to assume responsibility; I took initiative, and set my goals high; and I worked hard for goals I had set. 

            As I was improving, my teacher mentioned to me about performing in a fine arts event. I would be graded on how I performed; not just how I played my piece, but how my emotions were displayed through my piece. My old habits quickly returned, as I wanted to neglect the opportunity because of the fear of responsibility and failure. However, my parents advised me otherwise, and with their counsel, I decided to perform. I had nearly seven months to prepare. Through the process of preparation, I built upon my new habits; discipline, responsibility, and hard work. Because of my delayed response, I had a limited amount of time for preparation, so this required me to manage my time and remain disciplined throughout the seven months. This was not an easy process, and I had to work hard to perfectly know and memorize my piece.

The day of the event was here! To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Before I had to perform my piece, I was given three minutes to practice and warm up on the piano. This amount of time wasn’t even enough for me to finish my piece, because my piece was just under five minutes. After I was finished warming up, I introduced myself and my piece to the judges. I began to play, and I finished in what felt like a matter of moments. But I wouldn’t know my results until the ceremony, which was later that day.  

            As I anxiously awaited the ceremony, I watched and listened to several of the other performers. Each moment after I finished my piece, I recalled every small, minute detail that I may have underperformed on. Finally, it was time for the ceremony, and they were calling off the finalists for piano soloists. Each finalist has an invitation to nationals at the KFC Yum! Center, and one of the finalists will receive the award of merit. At this point, I was just proud of myself for following through, and I didn’t care whether or not I was a finalist. One by one they called off the finalist, and I never heard my name. They walked up, received their invitation, and went back to their seats. As the finalists sat back down, they named the award of merit. I heard my name. I couldn’t believe it, did I receive the award of merit? I walked up, received my award and invitation, and went back to my seat. At that moment I had a huge sensation, and I realized, that through discipline, hard work, and responsibility, you can achieve any goal you set your mind to.

            I can truly see the difference the choice to play the piano has had on my life. As I look back and reflect, I realize how important every decision we make is. Regardless of the significance of the choice, it plays a role in our lives and future, and the lives and future of those around us. Not only did I learn piano, but I learned discipline, responsibility, hard work, and the importance of the decisions we make. We should not neglect the value of any decision, major or minor, because the impact it can have on our lives could be far greater than we can imagine.