Seventeen

Today is my birthday, and I am turning 17. Woo! I know this year isn't quite over yet, but I feel like it's been a great year. This year has probably been the best year of my life. It's amazing to me how much I've grown as a person since my last birthday. The schedule I have this year I wouldn't have been able to handle last year. Also, my violin skills have improved massively. This year when the chairman for second violins was gone for sinfonietta, I was asked to sit up front. The lady who sits up front with the first chairman had told me I had played better than her at the last rehearsal and asked me to sit up front with her. I was amazed and honored at the same time. She later told my violin teacher that I was able to play just as well as her and that she'd have to start practicing more. I am very proud of myself for my violin abilities and how far I've come in the past five almost six years of playing violin. Not only have my violin skills improved but my skills as a musician have come a long way. I can write my own songs, I can come up with parts to songs by ear, and I can now sing really well. This is the first time probably in my entire life that I've been this happy with myself. I know I most likely sound very arrogant and egotistical, but I've always had low self-esteem and for once I'm happy with myself.