I have been playing piano since the age of eight, when my parents enrolled me in piano lessons, which I attended once a week for four years. My teacher was a fantastic pianist who made learning a lot of fun. After piano lessons, however, I didn’t play much at all until 11th grade, when I received a Yamaha keyboard as a gift from my parents. The keyboard and the music I created with it quickly became a part of me, a means of expressing my feelings through sweeping melodies and powerful themes.