Personal Narrative: My Experience In Higher Education

My first year of high school was winding down, teachers had covered all learning material, and most students were preparing for finals. June had just begun, and along with studying, I had an upcoming saxophone recital for which I had been preparing since April. The Tuesday before my recital, I had my second to last lesson with my teacher, Fred Scerbo, before the recital on Sunday. I was preparing a piece by Charlie Parker named "Anthropology". Despite its difficulty, I felt that I would be able to perform it well. I would not play it at the original tempo because Parker was a phenomenal saxophonist, but I would play it at a decent tempo. Originally, I worked on the piece when I could, and I moved at a rate that would prepare me for the performance. A couple weeks before the recital, I stopped practicing, satisfied with my level of performance. I went into my lesson with high hopes and expectations. …show more content…
I completely bombed the piece, missing accidentals, rhythms, or dynamics, flubbing every phrase in one way or another. Fred was extremely disappointed in me, his confidence plummeting along with mine. Although my lesson was not the real recital, it was a private recital for Fred, and it was just as important as the performance in five days. Before leaving my lesson, Fred told me that he did not know what to do. He was no longer sure I would even perform at the recital, let alone perform the Charlie Parker piece, because there was so little time to fix all the issues or prepare another piece and perform it well. I felt absolutely horrible about myself and my performance. I failed my teacher, myself, and all the people who would be attending the