i might just be the next jimi

-This little baby was used in my application to UNC responding to some silly little question...

The crowd had been chanting “encore” for several minutes. My band and I slowly ascended the stairs to the stage. As we approached our instruments, bathed in glowing spotlights, a wave of noise crashed onto us. My ears were ringing from screams of my own name. I picked up my guitar and began to play.

The shrill ringing of the bell snapped me back to reality. I gathered my things and headed to my first day of Guitar 1.

With images of being a rock star already in my head, I picked up my guitar for the first time. Placing my fingers on the strings, I took a mighty strum. A mangled burst of disorganized noise assaulted my ears. I realized I had no idea what I was doing.

After the first week all I had gained was three chords and a sore hand complete with calloused fingers. I sadly realized I would never be like Jimi Hendrix and thousands would never scream my name nightly. I plugged on and eventually my repertoire of chords grew to 15 and by Winter Break I could even play some melodies.

My crowning achievement in guitar was a 4 song performance in which my four member band jammed to classics such as “Every Breath You Take” and “Yellow Submarine”. Although this so called concert had been played only in front of my fellow Guitar 1 classmates I still swelled with a feeling of accomplishment.

My guitar career ended that day with the quarters close. Even though I did not continue to play guitar, I gained the knowledge that I had gone up against something new, foreign and challenging and because of hard work and perseverance came out on top. This ability to embrace things I am not talented at and slowly conquer them is a skill I am glad to have acquired. I feel as though it will come in handy further down the road.