My Story - and a huge thank you to Andrew!!

Hello!

My name is Emilia, I'm 20 years old and I live in Rome, Italy.

My family has always been very much into sports (especially tennis, with two of my uncles and a cousin being official instructors, and most of my other relatives - including my mom - having played since a tender age and winning many tournaments), and not into music at all. Myself, despite all of my mother's efforts, I've never been much of a sports person, which is why I grew up pretty much frustrated: I was pushed too much, too hard, and in the wrong direction... My mother had me play tennis since the age of four, everyday, and while I did enjoy it in the beginning (I'm a proud person, so when I started winning my first tournaments at the age of 8-9, beating kids who were quite a few years older than me, it did make me feel good about myself), it soon began to be too much of a weight to carry. I had to stop playing for two years when I was 10, and when I started again, all my friends had become so much stronger than me, so while I had already started to lose interest in the sport itself (unlike my mother, it wasn't much of a problem for me not being able to play tennis. As a matter of fact, I actually enjoyed the change), this only made matters worse. I wanted to stop, but my mother - clearly acting in what she thought was my best interest - wouldn't hear of it, as she thought I was just lazy and it would be just a matter of time before I started enjoying it again.

As time went on, it got to the point when I really couldn't take it anymore: I know it may sound selfish, but being forced to do something - as beautiful as it is - against my will, had taken all the fun out of everything, and soon, instead of just not being fun anymore, attending tennis lessons had become really unpleasant. I ended up hating tennis and everything to do with it. At 15, I finally made up my mind and stopped going, and started going to the gym instead. My mother was a bit shocked, but she thought that as long as I did SOMETHING, it would be alright. She was sure this was just a "phase", and that tennis was still important to me. She would invite me to a match every other week, but I plainly refused each time: even so much as looking at a racket made me sick to the stomach. For the next four years, I refused to touch a racket. Even to this day, I only play once or twice a year with one of my cousins, but that's it.

However, now that tennis was out of the picture, I wasn't used to so much free time (I used to go everyday for two-three hours at a time...), so I started doing a lot of new things, to try and find my "thing". I went to the gym daily, I started getting odd jobs here and there, baby-sitting, tutoring, that kind of thing, but I still felt something was missing. That's when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to try out for his choir. After asserting his sanity (me?! music?!), I thought, "What the hell, beats staying at home, might as well try," and I went. I was accepted, and it was like a whole new world opened up in front of me. I had a lot of work to do to train my voice and learn how to read music sheets, but it was fun... every time I learned a new piece or reached a note I couldn't hit before brought me a sense of elation I'd never felt before.

And the piano... whenever I heard my teacher or one of the guys play a little piece just for fun, my heart would melt: they could play such beautiful sounds so easily... I realized I wanted to learn how to play the piano as well. Sadly, however, there was nothing I could say to convince my parents: while I'd been paying for my singing lessons myself with the money I got from working as a waitress on the weekends, adding piano lessons on top of that would go way over my budget. Not to mention, where the hell could I find enough money to buy a keyboard, when I could barely scrape those 70 euros a month for the choir? I asked my mother for help, but she refused, saying that she was not going to waste so much money on a keyboard for a person as inconsistent as me, who'd probably forget about it two weeks after I bought it.

Unlike what she hoped, her reaction only brought me a firmer resolution: I was determined to show her how serious I was, and I was also determined to do everything on my own. Unable to buy a real keyboard, I borrowed a really old, cheap one off my uncle (my grandma had given it to him for his tenth birthday... a real antique, with only three octaves... ^^ But it could play multiple chords at the same time, so it beat my old toy one ), and asked a friend of mine - who, like Andrew, has played the piano for over 15 years - his first books. But learning by myself out of books wasn't easy, and, as if that weren't enough, my schedules at university made it impossible for me to keep my job - which meant I didn't even have those 70 euros a month anymore, so getting a teacher was out of the question.

But I still haven't given up. I've only just started with your lessons, but I'm learning! And, hopefully, I will soon be able to buy a real keyboard, seen as I've been awarded a 1000 euros scholarship for merits (finally, studying actually comes in handy!! ^_^), although I still haven't received it yet, so it'll have to wait.

Anyway, all this rant was to say that I really wanted to thank you, Andrew. I admire your spirit and your kindness, and I just wanted to let you know that all your hard work means a lot to me, because your lessons are fun and easy to understand, and it's thanks to you that I - and so many other people, I'm sure - have a chance to learn something I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

Nice Story Emilia ..

wow..... That was a really touching and inspiring story!!!!!!! I never would have dreamed when I started that the lessons would be able to reach people like this. Thank you for sharing your story! I'm greatful to be able to help. If you ever have any questions let me know ^_^

(p.s. I play tennis to, but just for fun, I'm not amazing at it or anything, but i enjoy playing it on a nice sunny summer day I'm sorry you were pushed so far with tennis. Something you should think about is that, ultimately no one else sucked the fun out of tennis, you sucked the fun out of it yourself by whatever idea of tennis is poped into your head. I'm sorry if that sounded rude or anything, I wasn't meaning it to at all. I just wanted you to know that whenever you decide you can see the positives in anything and enjoy them, even something you hate as much as tennis. )

Anyway! take care! Never give up and reach you dreams! YOU CAN DO IT!

Andrew

Admin Andrew wrote:wow..... That was a really touching and inspiring story!!!!!!! I never would have dreamed when I started that the lessons would be able to reach people like this. Thank you for sharing your story! I'm greatful to be able to help. If you ever have any questions let me know ^_^

(p.s. I play tennis to, but just for fun, I'm not amazing at it or anything, but i enjoy playing it on a nice sunny summer day I'm sorry you were pushed so far with tennis. Something you should think about is that, ultimately no one else sucked the fun out of tennis, you sucked the fun out of it yourself by whatever idea of tennis is poped into your head. I'm sorry if that sounded rude or anything, I wasn't meaning it to at all. I just wanted you to know that whenever you decide you can see the positives in anything and enjoy them, even something you hate as much as tennis. )

Anyway! take care! Never give up and reach you dreams! YOU CAN DO IT!

Andrew

Thank you. Don't worry, it wasn't rude at all, and I know what you mean: it's not tennis in itself that stopped being fun, but how I perceived it. Which is why I still enjoy playing - even if it is only once or twice a year, since we live far away from each other - with my cousin, when there's no pressure and it's just fun.

Thank you again for these lessons! I can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with the correct fingers now ^_^

tomomimorgan wrote:

Admin Andrew wrote:wow..... That was a really touching and inspiring story!!!!!!! I never would have dreamed when I started that the lessons would be able to reach people like this. Thank you for sharing your story! I'm greatful to be able to help. If you ever have any questions let me know ^_^

(p.s. I play tennis to, but just for fun, I'm not amazing at it or anything, but i enjoy playing it on a nice sunny summer day I'm sorry you were pushed so far with tennis. Something you should think about is that, ultimately no one else sucked the fun out of tennis, you sucked the fun out of it yourself by whatever idea of tennis is poped into your head. I'm sorry if that sounded rude or anything, I wasn't meaning it to at all. I just wanted you to know that whenever you decide you can see the positives in anything and enjoy them, even something you hate as much as tennis. )

Anyway! take care! Never give up and reach you dreams! YOU CAN DO IT!

Andrew

Thank you. Don't worry, it wasn't rude at all, and I know what you mean: it's not tennis in itself that stopped being fun, but how I perceived it. Which is why I still enjoy playing - even if it is only once or twice a year, since we live far away from each other - with my cousin, when there's no pressure and it's just fun.

Thank you again for these lessons! I can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with the correct fingers now ^_^

Yay!!

good story just want to point out you live in the greatest city ever( im sure you already know this)

I really enjoyed your story, you write really well (It's not like you don't know it ) It reminded me I have to brush up on my English Composition for next semester Not my cup of tea...

I loooooove badminton...

wahhh!! what a nice story!!! like you i easy in giving up things but in piano it makes me feels better.. thanks to your story im more exited and willing to play the piano..
^^

Hi guys! Thanks to everyone who commented

I just wanted to let you all know that three weeks ago I was finally able to buy my first real keyboard!!

I've been pretty much playing non-stop since then (I'd been itching to put all the lessons I'd watched into practice!), and now I can play "the easy part" of Fur Elise pretty fast Yay!