Eva B., Oakwood High School
The Power of Music
How do you know if you’re right? How can you stay on the right track when it’s so easy to get lost? The answer is simple. All you need is someone to guide you. This could be a lifelong friend, sibling, or parent. For me, it was my grandmother.
School has always come easy to me. That changed in 2020 when Covid-19 hit. My 5th-grade class went online, and I was left to learn alone. At first, I loved it. Being on my own schedule was freeing, but the isolation took a toll. I started staying up late, stopped turning in my homework, and began putting off projects. At 11 years old I got my first C. Then, in December of 7th grade, just when I thought nothing could get worse, my grandmother died. I was devastated. She was an important part of my life and I felt lost without her.
The next months were some of the worst of my life and I lost all motivation for school. Then, in the summer of 2022, I went to my family reunion. It was 6 months after my grandmother had passed and I was still in shock. Surprisingly, that week-long trip wasn’t filled with sadness and absence. In a way, my grandmother was there with us, through her music. She loved music. She composed music for a children’s choir and her home was full of instruments. The last piece she composed was for me when I started learning viola. It was a trio with violin, viola, and cello. I performed that piece at her funeral along with my two uncles. Our family spent hours that week singing her songs and playing her instruments. By the end of it, I realized that although my grandmother was dead, she would never be gone from our lives.
When I returned home, I decided it was time to turn things around. I practiced piano more, sang in a choir, and put energy into playing the viola. Rekindling my love for music gave me the motivation I needed to improve my academics. I took my classes more seriously, put more effort into homework and projects, and studied more for tests. It didn’t take long to see the effects. My grades improved and I became interested in school again.
I used to wonder if I was right. I used to wonder how I could stay on the right track. But now I know that the answer is simple. My grandmother will always be in my heart guiding me in the right direction. All I need to do is listen to her!
