Scholarship Essay

Like most typical Asian kids, I was pressured by my parents to learn the piano at a very young age. I practiced diligently and I was decent for my age, but it wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed. However, it has provided me with a strong foundation of basic music theory and technique, which I applied to my later violin studies. For a few years in middle school, I excelled at the violin, but when introduced to yet an even “better” instrument, I couldn’t resist the temptation to switch once more to learn the viola. It was through this instrument that I really began to discover myself through music—I practiced because I wanted to, not because it was something...