Personal Narrative: My Transition From Middle School To High School

As a student at Mountain Heritage High School, I began weighing my options for what I want to do with my life and what it would take to get the education to make that happen. My transition from Middle School to High School has been the biggest challenge I have had to overcome in the past years of my life. From my fourth grade year to my ninth I played the game of football and enjoyed every second of it. I was a defensive linebacker and started every game and really was leaning toward a scholarship to play for some college; however, ever since I was five years old, I played the mandolin and took lessons every Friday after school.
I was not really into the mandolin, but my mother encouraged me to keep playing, even though I dreaded every single practice and

begged not to go to lessons. She knew I had musical capability. She didn’t make me practice, but asked that I continue to take lessons in hopes that it would eventually pay off.
In my seventh grade year, I made the football team for East Yancey and was very excited. The demand for practice every single day did not allow me time to go to lessons, so my mom said that I could just wait until football season was over and pick it back up after the season. I was so happy to get a break from going to lessons. I did not even practice the mandolin during the whole two months of football. After football season was over, I was back to the same routine going to mandolin lessons every Friday like usual. I actually looked forward to going back. One day at school I saw a flier up in the band room that said Guitar Lessons. I thought to myself why not take it. I will be able to get out of chorus class that I disliked anyway.
The next day I got my grandpa’s old guitar, took it to school.

My guitar teacher came in, gave us a sheet of music, and said start working on it. I had no idea how to read music, so I sat down with the guitar and started playing around with it. All the other kids who could read music played the song. I had no idea how to play it, and the teacher said that by the end of the day that how well that I played the song would determine my grade. I sat there upset, because I knew I could not play the song. So I just started listening to the other kids play the song, and realized I could make the same notes with my guitar. Little did I know that I was training my ear to hear and understand music. Every day was the same thing. I would listen to them and play what I heard. My teacher never found out what I was doing until the end of the class when she asked me the question “How are you playing the songs so well?” I just said I do not know. She was astonished by my answer and started questioning me until she figured out what I was doing. At the end of our conversation, she signed me up for the same class the next semester. I learned a lot of songs and became very interested in it. Suddenly, I started to love

it.
In ninth grade football was turning from a passion to a problem. I never had time to practice music. I formed a bluegrass group at church and began playing at a lot of churches and benefit singings. Music was turning into what I loved and football was turning into a complication. I prayed long and hard about it and felt like God was telling me music was more important than football, and he could use me to minister to people. My goal is to help people who are having troubles and trials. My coaches on the other hand, did not like the idea of me quitting football and gave me a hard time about it. Many nights I was wondering if I did the right thing, and now as a tenth grader I have come to the conclusion, I did.
God has opened many doors for me. I have been playing almost every Saturday at country stores, benefits, and festivals all around western North Carolina. Now my dream is to go to college, not through a football scholarship, but in music. I hope to major in Appalachian/Bluegrass music, so I can keep living my passion until the day I leave this world into my new one.