Lightly Row
I have played the violin for close to 11 years. I never really WANTED to play. What I wanted was to be exactly like my big sister, and she just so happened to be a Suzuki student. My parents thought it would be an excellent idea.
I was six.
By the time I was seven, I wanted to quit. I prepared myself for a very serious discussion with my parents, only to be shot down within a matter of seconds. Quitting, they said, was not an option.
Here’s the part where I wish I could say this was an entry about how by being forced to stick with the violin for a decade has taught me the importance of commitment.
I despise the violin with every fiber of my being. And I continually prepare myself for very serious discussions with my parents, only to be told that quitting is STILL not an option-or at least until I turn 18.
But the hatred goes much deeper than just hatred towards the actual instrument. I now officially ALL classical music. It literally makes me feel ill.
Funny how parents forcing their children to do an extra curricular activity simply because it will look good on a college application kills their love for an otherwise good thing; isn’t it?
This semester I made a breakthrough: I managed to convince my parents to let me drop out of the Durham Youth Orchestra and replace it instead with the Young People’s Performance Company.
What still upsets me is that I had to FIGHT for it. I had to FIGHT to do something that I loved, that would look equally good on college applications, and that would make me happy simply because “quitting is not an option.”
What, pray tell, is the logic behind sticking with something you loathe purely because you’ve been loathing it for 10 years?
I was six.
By the time I was seven, I wanted to quit. I prepared myself for a very serious discussion with my parents, only to be shot down within a matter of seconds. Quitting, they said, was not an option.
Here’s the part where I wish I could say this was an entry about how by being forced to stick with the violin for a decade has taught me the importance of commitment.
I despise the violin with every fiber of my being. And I continually prepare myself for very serious discussions with my parents, only to be told that quitting is STILL not an option-or at least until I turn 18.
But the hatred goes much deeper than just hatred towards the actual instrument. I now officially ALL classical music. It literally makes me feel ill.
Funny how parents forcing their children to do an extra curricular activity simply because it will look good on a college application kills their love for an otherwise good thing; isn’t it?
This semester I made a breakthrough: I managed to convince my parents to let me drop out of the Durham Youth Orchestra and replace it instead with the Young People’s Performance Company.
What still upsets me is that I had to FIGHT for it. I had to FIGHT to do something that I loved, that would look equally good on college applications, and that would make me happy simply because “quitting is not an option.”
What, pray tell, is the logic behind sticking with something you loathe purely because you’ve been loathing it for 10 years?