Crusade: 2001 | home
My life story
Born: Fri. 26 Nov 1982 @ 054318CST
Christ Hospital - Oak Lawn, IL
26 in. , 9 lb. 12 oz.
Currently: Living in Aurora, IL
Preparing for relocation to Dubuque, IA
73 in. , 153 lb. 8 oz.
Commentary:
OK. I was born in Oak Lawn, and my life was pretty quiet for the first few years. My sister Elizabeth was born in 1985, when I was three. I also had a brother in there somewhere (1983) who died after birth. So sad. I lived in Park Forest, IL for three years, and when my sister was born we moved to Naperville, IL. We lived in our house there for another three years, and I established friendships with a couple of people who are now preparing for college themselves. In 1988, after my brother Matthew was born, we moved across the DuPage River, but stayed in Naperville (bigger house). We were there for almost eleven years, before a series of unfortunate events forced us to relocate to Scarborough, ME. I attended Benet Academy for two years before we moved, and I kept in touch with many of my old friends from the Chicago area. While in Maine, I made many new friends, some of whom I am still in contact with to this day. Six months after moving to Maine, the same series of unfortunate events forced my family to move yet again, this time to Tomah, WI (en route back to Chicago). I attended Scarborough High School for six months and Tomah High School for three months. I am in contact with only a small number of people from Tomah High, but that doesn't bother me. :) In June of 1999, I moved back to the Chicago area - this time, to Aurora, IL. I got my driver's license that summer. In August, I started my senior year of high school back at Benet Academy, from where I would graduate nine months later. The next year, I would attend Eastern Illinois University on a music scholarship, attaining high grades. However, I was not happy with the quality of education I was receiving there, and I summarily decided to transfer, considering Clarke College and Northwestern University. Ultimately, I would choose to attend Clarke, as for the second straight year I was denied admission from Northwestern. I begin at Clarke in late August.
My music career began approximately eight years ago, but did not blossom until my eighth grade year. My talent was taking off, but due to unseen circumstances, I was unable to take lessons my freshman and sophomore years of high school. My junior year I resumed lessons with Susan Kirck, who introduced me to pieces that I would ultimately use to audition for college. Upon returning to the Chicago, I resumed lessons with Tom Still, an area teacher that was related to NU oboe professor Ray Still. He prepared me for my college auditions, and with his help I was accepted to Eastern Illinois University. At EIU I studied with Dr. David Hobbs in the fall, and Dr. George Sanders in the spring (due to the fact that Dr. Hobbs was on sabbatical in the spring of 2001). I also studied jazz piano under Michael Stryker. Next year I will study piano under the direction of Nancy Lease and jazz piano under the direction of Chuck Herring. During my music career I have performed in many solo recitals, as well as directed musicals and variety shows. My experience is widespread, and my main strength is my sight-reading ability and my ear. That is my biggest asset, along with my technique, in playing more difficult pieces that require high ability.