the pep talk palace

jumping right back in…

so, after moving to CT from Mississippi in September of 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic (jumpscare), my trumpet and I kinda had a falling out. Because I was moving, I didn’t get a chance to play that much due to…. you know… the chaos of moving and the presence of a global pandemic. However, because I moved during September which (as most of us know) is the beginning of the school year, I still had to attend my classes via Zoom, and those classes included my jazz band. But instead of going to class with the other 5 kids that were also in jazz band, I had to do private zoom lessons with my band director 😬. Honestly, I don’t remember much of it, but I do know that it was awful.

Top 3 problems with that arrangement:

1: I didn’t know him that well, and being far apart made it harder for me to connect with him.

2: My director was a very prickly man, so to speak

3: The absolutely awful Wi-Fi at the Red Roof Inn

I think that last one was the worst because I was living in an unfamiliar place with spotty WiFi AND still having to go to classes. Kind of not ideal if you ask me (and you are asking me because you’re reading my blog so). During this time period, I stopped wanting to play trumpet. I didn’t see a need for it anymore, so it kinda got pushed to the side. That was the way things were from the months of September to January.

When January came, I transferred to my town middle school and went into 7th grade. In 8th grade, I joined a band as an elective and of course, I brought my trumpet with me. I made lots of new friends and quickly discovered how good everyone was at their respective instruments, especially trumpet. Now, this isn’t to say I was bad, just a little less…. educated in the mysterious ways of the trumpet. Nevertheless, I continued playing the trumpet and found a new appreciation for it. I even got to play in my town’s 4th of July parade, which was a lot of fun for me. I finished my 8th grade year and transferred to a new school in the summer before 9th grade.

In 9th grade I (surprise, surprise) joined an after school jazz band. But this time, it wasn’t for an elective, it was just for fun. It ran every Monday from 5:30 to 6:20 all in the lead up to a concert in late November in which all of the music ensembles at school perform. At first, I was really nervous to join. But during the first couple of weeks, I made a friend. His name was Leo and he played trumpet just like me. Whenever I was confused, I would lean over and ask him all sorts of questions like “Where are we?” and “What note is this?” This interaction became a weekly occurrence because lets just say, jazz band was mildly confusing and I needed all the help I could get. To my benefit, Leo didn’t seem annoyed by my questions and if he did, he was a very good actor because I thought we were bonding. Long story short, jazz band freshman year was very scary and without Leo, I wouldn’t have survived. Plus, jazz band gave me one of the strongest friendships I’ve ever had and it is a friendship that I will cherish for the rest of time. We performed in the concert in November and in the spring, I did it all over again with my trumpet bud Leo by my side (side note, if it weren’t for Leo, I probably wouldn’t have made it through sophomore year, but that’s a convo for another day…)

Then in December of my sophomore year , I joined the winter musical, which was RENT. Now, I have always had a love for singing and acting. I don’t remember when I specifically started singing, but I got my start in my church choir when I was around 7 or 8. This was also around the time I started acting (double whammy, I know) Because of these 2 hobbies, joining the musical seemed like the next step. During the course of the musical, I remembered how much I LOVED performing. The pre show jitters, the seemingly never ending practices, opening night, it was like a drug that I couldn’t get enough of. I am never more me than when I’m performing and this musical proved that. I knew that I needed to get back into singing and so I joined my school’s choir and acapella ensembles. During this time, I also joined my school’s chamber orchestra. Why, you might ask? I don’t think I even know myself. Like I said, I love performing (and that’s all the explanation I can give y’all)

So where does that leave me in the present day? Well, I’m currently in jazz band, orchestra, chorus and acapella, last spring I finished a run as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family musical, and I’m currently working on a performance for my school’s convocation ceremony. Kind of all over the place but hey, its what I love to do and that will never be a waste. Music is a central part of my being and I can’t imagine myself without it.

(I’m realizing as i’m finishing writing this that this blog post was a bit all over the place. I think I just had too much to say. this post was meant to be something deep and think-worthy, but it’s basically just a life recap about music so forgive me 🙏 I promise the next post will be more concise)

until the next oversharing session ✨

– abby f