The upright bass has been the loveliest instrument I have ever laid my eyes on. Everything from the scroll to the endpin was marvelous. However, the deep rumbling coming from each of the strings, rivaled any other aspect the bass had to offer. The bass had been my entire life, though I’ve only played for three years. It was my pride and joy but it had also been my frustration and misery. It seemed like playing the bass would only set me up for disappointment. As to say that my efforts were never good enough to receive any awards or high scores. Yet, my bass gave me something that no award or high score could ever surpass. It opened my eyes to a world I never really believed existed.

The move from Texas to Virginia had changed everything for me. I started to become more aware of my environment and how I was living my life. Tallwood High School played a major role in my new realization of the world around me. It was such a great school, I wish I could go back. It had so many opportunities I have never been able to experience before, including sports I’ve never heard of, like Field Hockey. However, that wasn’t what caught my attention, though, it was the grand orchestras conducted by an astonishing director, Ms. Pucky. She taught us things my other school could never teach. I learned new dynamics, bowing techniques, articulation, and she improved my sight reading. In addition, The orchestras, along with the rest of the school were very diverse. I learned one of the basses in my section were of Native American descent. This had raise many questions for me like, “How come back in Texas, it seems as if everyone is separated?” and “How come I have never heard of so many backgrounds?” As a result of my experience at Tallwood, I have grown as a true musician and way more knowledgeable about the world surrounding me.

I knew all good things come to end, but leaving Tallwood was the hardest thing for me to do. Nevertheless, I did not stop looking on the bright side. I told myself, “Maybe Worthing High School will have something better to offer me.” Boy was I wrong. My worst nightmare had come true when I stepped foot into those double doors. “I’m sorry, but we have no orchestra program here.” My heart broke just like a string on my bass, which would be too expensive to fix. What made my Worthing experience worse was that the only other electives here were Agriculture, Tech, and Hospitality. It was also quite the coincidence that Worthing was predominantly black. The message I got from this was that black people are only good for farming and working for other people. I had never been so enraged in my whole life. Why was my background having almost the same opportunities as my ancestors? Why couldn’t these students have the same chance as me to experience something beneficial like the wonderful school of Tallwood? It was basically setting my people up for failure. In addition, there are barely any sports, clubs, nor extracurriculars for students to widen their exposure. Inequality was as vivid as ever. It was a string needed to be fixed no matter the cost.