I practiced so much and put so much energy into becoming a better musician, but my cello teacher was apathetic and I never felt good enough. I told my advisor I wanted to start thinking about grad school for cello, maybe in NY because I've wanted to move there for a while, and she told me that I should only apply to smaller schools because I wasn't good enough to get into a well-known school. I applied for a performance certificate and got denied, and later learned it was because my advisor had not told me the correct application process. Then, right before my senior year, when I was trying to prepare my audition rep, my cello professor told me he no longer had time for me as a student even though he only had one other student and his quartet was taking a year off from touring. I felt so awful and I can't tell you how many hours I spent crying because everyone was telling me I wasn't good enough to do the only thing I have wanted to be good at since I was 11.

With the support of my family, I decided to try anyways and not let my experience at UT discourage me. I got a new cello teacher who made me feel that I could do anything I wanted and it was silly of me to limit myself because I thought I wasn't good enough. He even suggested I apply to Yale, one of the most difficult music schools to get into. So I did, along with 5 other places. I didn't get into Yale, but the process of learning the really challenging rep they require and made me feel so proud of myself for even attempting something so difficult. He helped restore my confidence in myself. I got into 2 schools (SUNY Purchase and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst) and I'm about to go visit them both so I can decide which one I will be attending in the fall. Now I feel like it's not a matter of if I can make this work, but just a matter of time. I'm excited for the future.