This I Believe

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My name is Reed Michelini, and I believe that music can change lives. It was supposed to be the three day hiking trip in the Pictured Rocks that changed my life. Not the three hour car ride going there. You’re probably thinking that there was some catastrophic event that occured during this car ride, which changed my life. That was not the case. Instead, it was the music that we listened to, driving through the wilderness, on our way to the Upper Peninsula. I was fifteen years old, and six others and I packed into the van that would bring us to our adventure. Before this trip, my music vocabulary was seriously lacking, and it had a very small role in my life. At the time, I didn’t realize how the music that the driver of the van played was going to drastically steer my life in a different direction. Without a phone, I made mental notes in my head of some of the bands we listened to on our trip up. Pink Floyd. The Eagles. The Rolling Stones. I passed time on the trail by singing these new songs I heard in my head. I knew that after the three day hiking trip was completed, the biggest journey of my life still lie ahead.
As soon as I got home, I went on YouTube and embarked on my musical journey. Ahead of me was a vast frontier of songs, bands, and artist, all about to change my life. Over the course of many years, I have learned to appreciate new genres, and have began to finally understand how important music is to my life. The lyrics of these songs have also changed my view of the world, allowing me to open my mind to the what was going on at that time. I have learned more about myself through music than any other thing that has existed in my life.
It was these songs from the 60s and 70s that inspired me to pick up the guitar that had been collecting dust in the corner of my room, for three years. I started off slow, trying to mimic the sounds that I heard on some of my new favorite tracks. I would feel like I was making progress, but each day I practiced seemed more and more challenging. After months of cramped hands and bloody fingertips, it quickly became a passion of mine. Playing guitar has not just become a passion and a hobby for me, but it has also presented opportunities, and sparked friendships. It has allowed me to play guitar in front of a thousand students at a school mass, or simply just jam with my friends. To this day on, music and guitar are still two of the biggest parts of my life.
I absolutely cannot imagine where my life would be today if it was not for that three hour car ride. I can single handedly say that the three hour car ride full of classic rock left an impact on me that will last a lifetime, and that van ride was one of the most important moments of my life. I believe that music can change lives, because it changed mine.