Kate Wiley

I have been playing the piano for over twelve years. However, when my uncle bought me a keyboard for my seventh birthday, I had no idea what kind of impact it would have on my life. If you had told seven-year-old me that I would be playing piano almost daily as I approached my 20s, I probably would have laughed in your face. This is because my piano journey began with struggle, frustration, and countless practice sessions ending in tears. Although I now realize the importance of practice and discipline, my mother reminding me to practice for 45 minutes every day forced a latent hatred to start brewing. After taking lessons for about six years, I decided I needed a break as I was feeling burnt out and uninspired. My family and friends expressed worry to me, saying they missed hearing me play, but I knew I couldn’t go back until I felt ready.

Some people never return to the piano once they take that break, but this was not the case for me. One slow day during quarantine in 2020, I decided to sit down and play. Suddenly, I fell in love with the music all over again, except this time I was past the point of basic piano lessons. What I didn’t expect when learning an instrument was to gain skills of patience, persistence, and consistency. I had to use parts of my brain that had never even been accessed to analyze and better play the music I was learning. As I got better and better through hours of practice, I began to fall in love with music and its power. The piano has become a safe space for me, somewhere I know I can sit down and lose myself in the melody. When I went to high school, I ended up playing the piano in both my jazz and liturgy high school bands as well as taking piano classes to further my education. Here at the University of Georgia, I was recently admitted to the School of Music and plan to minor in music to keep piano in my life. This life-changing instrument has stayed in my life for over a decade now, and I intend to keep it in my life forever. My family have always been my biggest supporters, especially my grandfather, and I have him as well as my various piano teachers to thank for the transformative experience of a lifetime.