How I started my adventure in music was a little more spontaneous than most stories you hear. When I was in fourth grade, I stole my brother’s permission slip to join the fifth grade orchestra and after a phone call from my principal, I got away with it. I learned that I loved picking up all the different instruments and strived to teach myself how to learn each one. By the time I graduated from Fairmont Jr. & Sr. High School, I had a basic understanding of numerous musical instruments. Reflecting back to those years and experiences I had in my middle school and high school years, I realized that the music rooms were the places I felt most comfortable, and safe, but more importantly, where I was confident in my understanding of music and learning. I realized that there was so much more that I have learned besides music in the classroom as well. And I hope to provide the same experience, or even better for my students. 

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As a musician, I strive to connect with others around me to help bring the composer’s ideas to life. The best part about performing with ensembles is that it's a different experience every time. A different group of people. A different sound. Helping the composer create his/her/their ideas to the audience.

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As an educator, my role is to provide a fun, safe, and welcoming environment for my students so they feel more comfortable being themselves and learning. Yes, we teach our students dynamics, articulations, note values, etc. But it’s more than just music just like it’s more than just the notes on the page. Music can drive certain emotions and a certain piece can mean a specific quality to each person. We all think differently just like we all learn differently. Allowing students to share their personal connections and experiences and sharing with their peers can help students create a deeper and broader interpretation of the piece. Helping our students create, perform, respond, and connect during their time in the band room. That’s how our band experience helps shape us all in life. I want my students to learn and grow as a musician, but most importantly, a human being. It’s important for learning to take place in an environment where students are not only free to be themselves but free to make mistakes. By doing this, I prepare my students to be ready to become members of society where they are going to make mistakes, but they know how to understand those emotions and bounce back. Ultimately, my role is to facilitate learning and discourse and prepare students to be productive members of society through music. To help understand responsibility, time management, coordination, cooperation with others, and communication, just to name a few. 

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For my role in the community, state, and nation, I strive to perform music any chance that I can. I strive to help play in ensembles, whether that is a pit orchestra, church gigs, community bands, or a drum and bugle corp. Any opportunity where I can share my love for music, I will be doing it. This may tie into my education role as well, but I notify my community about band performances, student nominations for honor bands, and awards being given.

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Lately, in the last one hundred years, we have been listening to music, ideas, and more from heterosexual white males in the music industry, even though over half the people in the industry were women. When it comes to gender issues, we have been looking at sex differences between musical abilities, sex-stereotyping of instruments, and music career choices. Some examples of sex differences in musical abilities are singing, motor, rhythm, and listening skills. In sex-stereotyping of instruments, we tend to see that girls appear to be more attracted to instruments that are melodious while boys tend to be more attracted to instruments that are more rhythmic, and triumphant sounding. Especially since the 1990s, feminist theory has become part of gender research in music education and has three big areas of inquiry: gender studies, feminist pedagogy, and feminist critique. These three areas help us change our classrooms and ideas about what some may think happens in music education. Teachers have noticed lately that ensembles have performed music primarily by male composers and about male experiences, general music classes have noticed that girls appear more attracted towards music that is melodious, acoustic, and like music performed by female singers while boys are more attracted towards music that is rhythmic, electronic, and like music performed by male singers, and the music profession sorts teachers according to gender so that women are primarily classroom music teachers and men are primarily secondary instrumental instructors. Lately, music teachers have been trying to break this stereotype and make the music classroom a more diverse and inclusive environment for all students. What we can do is change by having a positive presentation of women in educational materials, providing equal access to all experiences and opportunities, and developing a community and a safe environment. When it comes to feminist criticism, women and men have different experiences in the world we live in today. Given that men, primarily have had the privilege to create policy, theories, and analysis, it’s no surprise that women may have a different view of the world and in the same case, have different experiences.