Courage has been an ongoing theme throughout my life.  I was born with unilateral hearing loss in my left ear. I had sometimes felt this disability had put me at a disadvantage compared to my peers. Despite sometimes missing out on what was being said around me, I persevered, worked hard and have excelled in pursuing my passion for music. Whenever someone asked me what music meant to me, I could not give a definitive answer because music meant so many things to me and it was difficult to single out just one. When I played the piano for my Grandmother in her nursing home, I saw her reaction and it made her feel good. I saw her smile, which is quite uncommon for her since her Alzheimer’s has rapidly progressed over the last several years. I was overjoyed seeing her foot start tapping when I started playing. Something as simple as tapping her foot let me know that I was connecting with her in a language we both understood and loved. At that moment, my Grandmother showed me that the best part of music for me was helping others, making any given moment that much better. Last year I started volunteering to teach piano to a young girl in my neighborhood with special needs. I was overjoyed to have the opportunity to spark that same love for music in her that my teacher had sparked for me several years earlier. After I finished her first lesson, I could see that she had a special gift. Over time and our weekly piano lessons, I saw the same desire in her to overcome an obstacle like I had at her age. Like me, she didn’t let her disability prevent her from learning to play the piano. She wasn’t thinking about what she couldn’t accomplish, only what she could accomplish. I was incredibly proud of her progress in learning several beginner-level songs during the first month of weekly lessons. Once the student and now the teacher, I felt a sense of pride to be passing on a special skill to a student of my own. Seeing her excitement when I arrived at her house every Sunday afternoon gave me a feeling of happiness and courage to continue. People like her and my Grandmother motivate me every day to keep striving to overcome any obstacles I may encounter in life. Through my experiences, I will continue to have the courage to never give up in the pursuit of my goals of becoming a music therapist, combing my love for music and helping people in a productive way.