Yesterday after Sunday morning meeting, we went to Kelly’s end-of-year piano recital. There were only three non-Asians who played out of about a couple of dozen students. The last three were absolutely amazing. I had not realized how much Kelly has advanced in her piano playing (She was not one of the last three.). I am incompetent when it comes to music. Lorena is much better than I, but still not great. We were only fortunate enough to get Kelly a slot in her current teacher’s schedule because Mrs. Hickenlooper, Kelly’s teacher from Oregon, made a big effort on her behalf. She called many people in North Carolina until she found just the right teacher. Even then, I think the only reason she accepted Kelly as a student is because Kelly is homeschooled and could come to piano lessons during the day. We are glad she did. Kelly made amazing progress. We were thinking Kelly might end her lessons after next year to concentrate on only academics. That all changed yesterday. We are very much encouraging her to continue–through college, if possible.
A couple of small events prompted us to notice a very interesting phenomenon yesterday. The first was when the young Asian girl seated beside Kelly heard that Kelly is homeschooled she said, “So you have a life?” The second was, at the end of the program, the teacher said that three of her students had been accepted at the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM). NCSSM is a highly selective residential high school for gifted students with a strong work ethic. It requires public service as well as a high level of academic performance. Acceptance at that school requires an amazing level of time and commitment. Add to that the time and effort required to play the piano the way they played and there is not much time left in the day for those kids to have a life. Still, on the whole, they seemed to be very nice kids. These kids and their families form a subculture that is not unlike that of many homeschoolers. I think a significant difference might be that homeschool tends to be less regimented.
Note: I finished the Old Testament today in my read through the bible.
Anonymous
Kelly,
Music is something that will last you forever. When I am an old man, I won’t be playing any more sports. But I will still have the ability to play an instrument. Don’t give it up.
We’ve been thinking of piano or guitar for Michaela. Also, John plays the viola in the school orchestra. He seems to be losing interest as high school approaches. We are wondering whether to force him to continue through high school. He’s not really actively fighting it, just not practicing like he used to, etc. I think playing the viola would be a great way to help him get into college.
Lynn
PS — Kelly, keep up the great work!
We told the kids, kind of jokingly, but kind of seriously that they had to study piano for three years, then they could either continue with piano or pick another instrument for seven years. After that, if they wanted to quit they could. By the time five years had rolled around, they both were bought into it for the long haul. We are really glad they did. The viola is a great instrument. We are interested to know what you do with John.
Andrew
I’ve met kids from NCSSM when volunteering at Kramden. They’re generally a nice and impressive bunch.
Your kids are fortunate that you are encouraging them to take up an instrument. I didn’t learn any instruments as a child or young adult, and it is much tougher to learn after you have already grown — both in terms of dedicating the time and developing the necessary dexterity.
One of my biggest regrets in my life is that I never learned to play an instrument. Especially the piano. I begged for lessons as a child, but we had no piano, no money to pay for lessons, and it just wasn’t a priority for my parents. So, here I am at 59 and still wishing I could play an instrument. Some people are brought to tears by beautiful art. I am brought to tears by an instrument beautifully played. Sometimes I will get lost in YouTube, listening to a cello or a guitar played by a master. Nothing is more beautiful to me. So I hope Kelly sticks with her music, but even more I hope she finds much joy in making music.
Welcome Andrew!! And thanks for leaving a comment. We thought the kids from NCSSM were very nice, too. We think it might be because they and their parents both seem to have high expectations for themselves, but we do not know. Still it is very enjoyable to be around nice, motivated kids.
Kathy–We are on exactly on the same page. I, too, wish I could play an instrument. I picked up a saxophone for awhile when I first got a job out of college and I truly want to get back to that. Sometimes, we sit around the computer, as a family, and go from YouTube music video to YouTube music video. We got started on that after someone pointed us to the famous James Brown-Pavoratti video. We LOVE to just look at and listen to all kinds of performers and all kinds of genres. P.S. I am planning to pick up the sax again after homeschool is over–maybe even take some lessons!
Thanks for the feedback, Ken, and I appreciate Andrew’s comment as well. I wish so much that someone had “forced” me to play an instrument, so I guess that’s my answer. 🙂
Lynn