Clover 1

Kaila Clover
Ms. Hoogewerf
Writing for College Success
28 September 2015
Spring Awards Concert
It was three years ago, but I can still recall the night when I finally recognized as a
talented violinist. I was in seventh-grade at the time, a middle-school student who had finally
become acclimated with a seven-period school-day. I was a second-year member of the schools
string orchestra, and an accomplished intermediate player. As much as I loved playing my violin,
it often felt like the teacher, Mr. Fuoco, said, You may or may not have real talent. I would
rather ogle over the beginners and criticize the advanced players than notice how well you play
your instrument. His attitude degraded my confidence at times, but I was not going to let a
minor setback stop me from pursuing what I loved.
The night of the famed Spring Awards concert loomed like a great, billowing storm, and
the intense pressure to out-perform the other second-year violinists in my class became a very
palpable reality. Normally, a concert like this wouldnt faze me. I was indifferent to competition,
save for a few occasions where I was required to excel, and I was too reserved to jostle for a
ranking or position. I practiced the required songs for the concert in class every day, I got my two
other friends in orchestra to practice together with me in a practice room, and when I went home,
I practiced late at night in my bedroom. My mother was not too thrilled about that. After all that
practicing, I still had to take a test on various musical terms and symbols, and then perform in
front of the rest of the students in the class.

Clover 2
I did remarkably well on both the test and the mock-performance, which was much to my
surprise. All year, every orchestra student was expected to play one of three songs that were
required to evaluate how they were progressing in the class. The teacher would then hand a
certain-colored star each student based on how well he thought they did, with a gold star
representing the best score possible, and a red star representing the lowest score. The students
who received all gold stars by the end of the year would receive a certificate of achievement at
the annual Spring Awards Concert.
The certificate was a nice reward, but the true achievement was winning a trophy for
Most Improved or Most Outstanding, with the name of the instrument and the name of the player
listed below that text.
The night of the concert arrived with as much urgency as a sloth. Thankfully, the
Orchestra was the first group on stage. I knew it wouldnt be long before I found out if I had
been chosen as one of the award recipients. Everyone played wonderfully, and the audience
applauded the whole orchestra. Then the teacher announced that it was time to hand out the
awards. He began with the certificates, which were passed out by the two assistant teachers.
Nearly every student in the class received one, stopping until when the teacher started handing
out awards to the Most Improved musicians in the class.