| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | When I was a junior in high school, I had an emotional experience that sent me a message about who I was, and who I was to become. Everyone remembers their first real break up; mine was not special. What was special about mine was how I learned to process it. I was despondent as I played my clarinet in band class. My fingers were sluggish. They felt like over-stuffed hot dogs. My rival was playing in her standard machine-like fashion, scores of notes pouring forth from her horn with uncanny precision. Our conductor gave her the solo as we rehearsed our most difficult piece. It was a lyrical aria, simplistically written but demanding of one's musicianship. My rival played it without error; robotically. The conductor was dissatisfied when he heard her mechanical interpretation. He asked me to take a turn. He restarted the section. As the piece progressed, I felt numb. My mind flashed back and forth from the music on the page to the memory of my ex-partner. I could still see her silhouette, the moonlight caressing her cheeks as strands of auburn swayed across her face. I could feel her memory pressing down on me; I was about to collapse under its weight. At that same moment, the time for the solo arrived. I poured all of my longing into my clarinet, and it sang of heartbreak. The conductor cut us off soon after we finished the section. The room was eerily quiet, if only for a moment. What I would later learn was that it was the sound of empathy. My band mates all felt what I felt. The conductor complimented my playing in front of the class, and awarded me the solo for our upcoming performance. Still, I would never match the way that I played it during rehearsal that day. I clearly recall the feeling of lightning shooting through my body, arcing across my skin, as I played that solo. It was an incredible experience. That moment taught me what music could do for me, and it was the manifestation of the reasons that I chose to apply to music school. Those twenty seconds had a profound impact on my life, and I will remember them always. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My father and I share a unique bond. He is an inspiration and role model for me in so many ways. He stands as an example of what a man can be. Between his incredible work ethic, compassion for other people, and his polished intellectual ability, I would have difficulty finding a better person to emulate. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | When I look at my heroes I see many themes. They are engaged in a lifelong pursuit of core goals and philosophies. They have discipline and dedication to a passion. They are understanding and compassionate, and possess the strength to use those traits to their advantage. They are driven to learn about everything around them. They willingly and freely admit their errors, then they immediately take steps to correct them. They don’t flaunt their success. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | When I was a boy of seven or eight, my friend and I were running around my parents’ new house. There wasn’t much there yet; we were still in the process of moving in. However, there was a small bag of rubber balloons, and a stereo. My friend and I searched and searched our barren playground for a CD, and at last our efforts were rewarded. On top of a dusty cardboard box in the corner of the garage was a lone album: The soundtrack from Evita (a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber). My parents were working in the yard, and they noticed sounds coming from the house. They couldn’t tell what it was from across the lawn, so they went to investigate. As they came closer, they realized that the windows were all closed. How could they have heard this from so far away? Their question was answered as they opened the door to the stereo cranked up to 11. My friend and I had inflated all of the balloons and stuffed them inside our shirts. We looked like mutated bunches of grapes as we danced to a deafening rendition of, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” My friend and I belted out the chorus in our best operatic voices as my parents, wide eyed in astonishment, stood and watched. Unfortunately my friend and I were asked to stop, otherwise I'm sure we would be on Broadway by now. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | If I had truly unlimited time and money, I would put myself into cryogenic stasis for two hundred years and then travel to all of the human colonies across the solar system and beyond. The moon and Mars would be my first stops, but only for their sentimental value. The pinnacle of my trip would be to set foot on a fully terraformed m-class world without a space suit and adventure in the wilderness. If I had a reasonably unlimited sum of time and money, I would enact a plan which I’ve been incubating for a few years. I want to fly to Northern Ireland, purchase a touring bike, and cycle from the Westernmost coasts of the UK all the way to Tibet. Perhaps I would continue on through China and revisit South Korea by ferry, then head further south to Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand before selling my bike and returning home to publish a book about my adventures. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | I can’t control what I pass on genetically, but I would do my best to instill in my children the values that make someone successful in life. Integrity. Conscience. Social skills. Love and compassion. Empathy. Health. Intellectualism. Humility. Ambition. Persistence. Persistence. Persistence. All of these things and more would I love for my children to gain. |
