Governor's School for the Arts

It's been over four years since I went to Governor's School for the Arts, GSA for short.  GSA is similar to Governor's Scholar Program here in Kentucky, except it is solely based on the arts.  It is a three week program that occurs every summer that gives hundreds of students across the state an opportunity to explore their talents, hobbies, and possible future careers.  I originally didn't want to audition for it,...I actually had no desire.  My freshman year of high school I witnessed a few upperclassmen audition for it and get rejected, this put my mind at unease and burnt any desire to audition... What horrible thinking for such a young mind, right?  Sophomore year rolled around and my band director had a talk with me, he recommended I apply and audition for it.  This got me thinking again,...what if he honestly thought I could make it?  Maybe?  Shortly after that discussion, I applied for an audition, just days away from the cut off date.

I quickly began practicing some audition material in hope of doing well.  The audition date arrived quick, and the unfortunate happened; a week prior to the audition date I fell ill with the flu, the worst kind of sick I've ever felt.  Battling the end of that sickness, my mom and I traveled to Louisville for the stressful event.  As a percussionist, I don't have the privilege of owning my own marimba, and not being able to go to school that week was awful because I wasn't able to practice.  Going into the audition room, sniffles and all, I did the best I could for the judges.  I left the room in tears thinking I had botched the entire performance, now all that was left was to wait.

The waiting process was almost as bad as the audition itself.  The months leading up to the announcement of qualifying candidates was daunting.  But that Spring I received an amazing letter in the mail; "You've been accepted into Governor's School for the Arts..."  I remember jumping up and down with joy and running into the house to tell my parents I made it!

(All of the instrumentalist that year)

The next few months passed by quickly and GSA had arrived; it was one of the best musical experiences of my life.  Over the course of three weeks my musicianship improved dramatically and I had made a lot of new friends, most of whom I'm still in contact with.  Making it into GSA was one example of my prayers being answered.  I know that without God, I would have never been able to push through and give it my best.