I play piano like a lot of other kids in my area so it's not considered strange or foreign at all. In a different but somehow similar way to Billy it's still an ostracized activity. Because I'm Asian it's expected in an almost stereotypical way and so me playing piano is not looked on proudly nor negatively but rather indifferently. It's a different type of disapproval I guess.
It's hard to grasp why exactly piano strikes such a chord in me. For the longest time I thought piano was just another step towards a college future but over the many years it's become so much more than that. It is the one activity I've been committed to for such a long period of time. Whenever I was sad or emotional the piano calmed me down. It was my allotted me time in a way. When I played nobody bothered me. I was in my own world. If I was doing homework, reading, watching TV...even using the bathroom, people would be calling to me from all over the house. But as soon as music starts floating out from the piano nothing could touch me. Even the cell phone went off. It was just me and my music. That type of world...I don't think I'll ever find one like it again.
Like people say, it's all the little things that make the difference. I never really noticed until now all the little things I do because of my passion for piano. Having a "piano songs i like" playlist on youtube, going to piano concerts alone or with my mom, piano camp with Daniel Pollack every year (always a joy :) ), spending half a day at Cornell University's music library to inhale the scent of music books, using the crappy school pianos after school when waiting for my mom rather than hanging out with 'the group', going to my piano teacher's house to file music just to be around the Steinway, etc. etc. etc. After realizing all these little quirks it made me feel so happy to know that there was something that drove me forward. The last 8 years have been a blessing...I really couldn't be more happy with the privileges I've been given to do this.
Thus, my dream one day is to found a foundation to help incredibly gifted kids like Billy Elliot to go after their dream in professional arts school.
While others make fun of me for blasting 98.1 from my car like Lady Gaga for others I've learned from Billy Elliot to really care less. "It's like electricity."
What inspires you?
