Anxiety-Personal Narrative

The anxiety was crawling up my back as I waited outside of the tryout room. Everyone seemed nervous, I could hear people fingering through scales and see the sweat on their foreheads. Musicians take All-Region very serious, that’s why I was prepared or so I thought. I had spent months practicing the audition material. From 7:15am section classes to 4:30pm private lessons, I was ready but the pressure of All-Region was going to try and ruin that, but I wasn’t going to let it.

It was my turn to go in and I took my seat, staring at the cardboard wall that had the three judges on the other side. One of them said “Please your first exercise” and at the moment my mind went numb and I didn’t even remember how the music went. I was stressed out and

worried, I had played the music 1000 times and four words made me forget it all. I started to play though the exercises and it was going just like I practiced. I was proud of how my audition went and I was ready to see what chair I earned.
It was time, I was about to learn how far my hard work got me. My hard work earned me the first chair of the third All-Region band, I was happy but disappointed because I received a better chair last year yet my scores were better this time around. It was frustrating but I know I still did better, I made improvements that made me a better player even though I didn’t get the top chair. I learned that stress is going to alter how I feel about my accomplishments but it is the desire to make myself a better musician that makes me a talented one. The scores don’t define how well I am, it is the passion and love I put into it that makes me great.