My Career

What did you do for a career? Why did you choose that career?

Ever since I was about 6 years old I wanted to be a teacher. My 2nd grade teacher let me help some of the kids in my class who were struggling, and I loved it! I loved watching someone go from not understanding to having that, "ah-hah!" moment, and the excitement on their face when they did. 
After that I changed pretty much every year what kind of teacher I wanted to be, anywhere from 2nd grade teacher to high school English, but I always maintained that I wanted to teach.  Then, my senior year of high school, I had to do a "culminating project", where I spent 50 hours doing something outside of school work and then presented it to a board of teachers and students. I used Marching Band and marimba as my project since I was already going to be there, and to be honest I didn't focus a whole lot on it since I was there anyways. The night came that I had to give my presentation, and I was pretty nervous. I wasn't sure how to sell to the audience how awesome my project was when it was so every-day for me. But the more I talked about percussion, the more I realized how much I truly loved it! I wrote this facebook post afterwards:
"So today I was giving my culminating project presentation, and for the first time, it hit me how much I really love percussion. I love that it's crazy, that it's so changeable and always evolving, I love the sounds and the people and the beauty that is percussion. In the book Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie (founder of Toms), he asks the question "What would you like to do with your free time?" Ok, maybe that's not an exact quote, but it made me think. And honestly, I love the marimba more than pretty much anything else I do. It inspires me to play and excel and share, this post is just proof of that. And if you've stuck it out and read for this long, I hope you realize that percussion is amazing. It's beautiful and insane and everything I want from life. Thank you to everyone who has taught and inspired me, especially Mr. Hampton for introducing me into this crazy world. You've changed my whole life, and I'm so grateful. Also thank you to Mrs. Shuster, you've taught me so much. I could go on, but for the sake of you I won't. Marimba is awesome. Percussion is awesome. Music changes the world. Find what you love and share it!" 

A few people commented these: 
Mr. Hampton - "That's so cool, Lindsey. Who would have ever known that the silent little strawberry blonde girl who looked at me like I was nuts would turn out to be...what you are now. It would be fun to take credit for your success, but music and love of it comes from you and the gifts you've been given. I just happened to be there when it all began, which is really cool, too."

Tori Roberts - "Lindsey! So honored i could be a part of your percussioning last year (baha nagoya) and this year! You are seriously so talented and I'm pumped for some afta stuba. Not to mention you're a great and passionate leader. Congrats on finishin that project!! "

Mom - "You are an amazing percussionist! It is so rewarding as a parent to see your child find something that they are passionate about and to see how it changes their life for the better. The cool thing is, this is only the beginning. You did great on your presentation."

Jay Colgan - "Beyond being an amazing musician, you are an even better person."

Ever since that night, I've known I wanted to teach percussion as a career. I went to BYUH and majored in Percussion Performance (they didn't have a music ed degree), and this year I got two awesome positions I never dreamed I'd get. This summer I started working as Kamiakin's Front Ensemble instructor for the Marching Band, and I'll be staying for the concert season too! Then last week, I got a volunteer job working with Mr. Hampton teaching his new steel drum class. It is a blast! I'm only just getting started in my career, but it is already so rewarding.

September 11th

What were some of the major community, national, and world events you lived through? How did these events change your life?

Maybe it's just that time of year again, but the event that immediately came to mind when I read this question was the terrorist attack of 9/11. I actually remember quite a bit about that day, but what still comes to mind all the time is what has happened since and the feeling I get every year when I remember.

September 11th, 2001, I was 6 years old and in 1st grade. We were living at my Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house while Dad was looking for a job after PT school. I woke up to go to school, and I remember everyone was watching the TV. I don't think I really comprehended much of what was going on, but I remember seeing the towers on the screen burning and thinking that something was very wrong. School that day was very solemn; I'm sure my teacher said something to us, but like I said before, I just remember feelings.

Every year in school we would talk about what happened. Looking back, I think the teachers realized how important of an event that was and were trying to process it themselves as well as help us understand - it changed our outlook on terrorism, made some people paranoid, changed our airports and national security... it really changed everything. 

The year I remember most was 7th grade. We had talked about it a lot in class, and we watched a little documentary. I spent the whole day feeling so sad. Mom checked out a video from the library, I think it was a compilation of news reports from that day, and then some interviews with witnesses and families who had lost loved ones. There was a girl in that video, my exact age, who told the interviewer she still slept with her dad's shirt; she told him how sad she was that he would never see her graduate or get married or play sports or have kids. That night when I went to bed, I just cried and cried for that poor girl and the hundreds of other kids just like her. I prayed and just asked, how in the world is it fair for her to lose her Dad? Why would this happen to someone so innocent and young?

A few years later, I believe my junior or senior year of high school, they built a 9/11 monument at the Southridge Complex by Highway 395. We went to the ceremony, and I cried again. Tears of sadness, yes, but also mixed with tears of hope. That day, I felt a peace from Heavenly Father reminding me that this was not the end for those people, that while it was a terrifying and horrible end, hope was not lost. God has a plan for those people, for the families they left behind, even for the men who were evil enough to kill the thousands of people that died when the towers came down. Through the atonement and Resurrection of Christ, we will all be resurrected and brought before God. One of my favorite quotes from Elder Wirthlin applies: "While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."