In life, we are faced with a plethora of choices. As children, we have the obligation of choosing between the simple concept of right or wrong, and those choices are determined by the way we were raised or our natural behavior. As we enter into adolescence, we gradually begin to consider important choices that will affect our future and where we'll set ourselves.

Suddenly, we are on the verge of emerging into adulthood, and dozens of options are sent our way to determine the fate of our future. I distinctly remember being plunged into this frightening reality and how scared I was about the fact that I had no idea what I was going to do with my life after high school. For years, I racked my brain for ideas that could possibly lead me to having a successful career to no avail. Then, it came to me during my junior year of high school.

My high school chorus instructor, Mr. Teel, spoke to me about auditioning for the Northeastern Chorus Directors Association (NCDA) District Chorus and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association (OMEA) All-State Chorus. Both of these choirs selected only the most prestigious musicians to come together to rehearse and perform music for a few days. We received our music at the beginning of the school year, and, due to the level of difficulty, we began rehearsing right away.

The first chorus we auditioned for was the NCDA District Chorus, and I remember it as if it happened yesterday. It was 6:00am whenever we arrived, and I was one of the first few who auditioned first because we had a marching contest elsewhere later in the afternoon that day. My eyesight was bleary, I was still clad in my unstylish, warm pajamas because it was below freezing that morning, and my hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail.

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one. Now, the audition room was another contributing factor to making the audition memorable. As soon as I walked in the door, I was stopped by a set of tall, thick folding screens and a music stand with the music cuts on them. Because of the unfamiliarity of my surroundings, I was tense and my voice wavered during the audition. I walked away from the room mortified, and knew that the chances of earning a spot in the chorus was minimal. To my surprise, I actually squeezed my way into the last few spots open in the Alto I section and was elated beyond belief.

Due to that experience, I knew what I needed to circumvent during my all-state audition, and ended up making the cut for the first round, which was for the district, and the second round for the combination of all five districts. My success in achieving the opportunity to perform in these prestigious choruses made me realize that I had a plausible future in the area of vocal music, but wasn't sure where I'd go to forward this as a career or what area I'd aim for.

Then it came to me. On the night of December 2, 2014, I made the greatest decision of my life. After I achieved surpassing the first round of auditions for the OMEA All-State Chorus, I was invited to Northeastern State University to sing with their ensemble known as the University Singers. My parents dropped me off in their Center of Performing Arts, and faced another obstacle: acquainting myself with the colleges students. Fortunately, they were kind and understood my concern but proved that I had nothing to worry about. After a raw run through of our music, I was in awe of the melodic sound they presented, and felt a sense of belonging whenever I sang with them. The pieces they performed for the audience captivated me with their melodic sounds that blended together perfectly, and that night I realized that I needed to begin working my way towards attending Northeastern State University and being part of their prestigious Department of Music as a vocalist.

My senior year, my opportunity to show what I had to offer commenced. I stood before Dr. Wall, Dr. Daniel, and Dr. Cook, and performed a German piece to show my linguistic skills as well as the operatic solo piece I sang my junior year for Solo and Ensemble. Then, I proceeded to demonstrate my competence of rhythms and repeating pitches. They seemed impressed, encouraged me to continue my work, and sent me on my way. About a week later, I discovered that I had been accepted into NSU's Department of Music, and was offered a considerably large scholarship to continue my studies in vocal music, especially in the opera and classical category.

Decisions are hard to make, but once opportunities knock and doors begin to open then it's hard to ignore the call. Along the way, there will be obstacles that, try as they might, prevent us from achieving our desires and fulfilling our purposes. There are people in this world whose primary goal is to be assured that our failure will be inevitable which is why it is wise to be surrounded by individuals who are battling the same feats and will offer the support they desire to receive. Unfortunately, sometimes our reluctance to try new things is a prime example of an obstacle, which is why I advise that an open mind and heart is the best option in seeking new opportunities and accomplishing rigorous challenges.

To this day, I'm pursuing my goal of becoming a musical performance major in the vocal area. From where I am now, the future is uncertain and opaque to my eyes, but I know that my prime directive is to persevere through the many challenges that will arise throughout my time here at NSU as a performance major. I realize that I will be pushed to my limits on every level yet I feel prepared to strive and do whatever I must to continue studying with the music department. I've discovered my voice, and now I'm beginning to figure out what I can do with it.