I have been surrounded by music my whole life. Both of my parents are professional violinists, so naturally, I picked up the instrument as well (against my will, of course). However, I have grown to really love it, and it is currently my major here at UGA! I try to stay open to all genres of music, and I really enjoy listening to pieces that range from classical to R&B and rap.

I actually started playing music when I was about 7. My first instrument was the piano (this was also against my will). I ended up playing for about 7 years, and my experience with it was not the best. I did not practice enough, but also my teacher was unmotivating. I am thankful I at least got to play Chopin during my time with her, but I wish I had more of an opportunity to explore other piano pieces. Unfortunately, 14-year-old me had enough, and I quit taking piano lessons. I still dabble here and there for fun, though.

I took violin lessons with my parents—primarily with my mom. I love them, but learning from them was not easy. My mom is already a private violin teacher, and she puts on more of a filter for her students. Since I am her daughter, that filter disappears… Nonetheless, I appreciate her trying her best, and I found it interesting the contrasting ways my mom and dad would interpret a piece of music.

I grew up in one of the most populated counties in the United States: North Fulton County. I would say it is quite sheltered, but I am grateful for the opportunities it has given me, especially involving violin. I was exposed to a wide repertoire of music in the GMEA All-State Orchestra as well as the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, playing pieces by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov, and many more well-known composers. I feel like classical music often has a “snobbish” connotation to it, but the genre really is diverse and can be enjoyed by anyone.

Before applying to colleges, I never really thought about violin as a career choice. I thought it would be fun, but after my first semester, I decided this would be my last semester majoring in music. I really do enjoy the violin, but it is definitely something I would like to do more as a hobby; I do not want to ruin my passion for it.

I will be attending Georgia Tech for Industrial Design next year. Despite this, I hope I will still continue my own personal journey with violin and music like I do with piano.