Conservatory of Music, UMKC

Because I loved music so much in high school, I had decided by the tenth grade that I wanted to pursue music in college. In 2002 I was accepted to the University of Missouri-Kansas City on a full scholarship in Flute Performance.

My dad packed up my stuff and drove me to Missouri from Texas. My mom couldn't come and we  both cried and cried. My first room mate was African American. We were room mates for three years. When I look back at how I behaved and the things I said, I was so stupid. I wish I was still in contact with her.

Music school was hard. Flute lessons was a four hour class, and I was expected to practice that much OUTSIDE of rehearsals, which I was not used to. But I made really great friends, some of whom I still talk to today.

My First Apartment, Twin Oaks

The Country Club Plaza, as seen from my first apartment.

 After a couple of years I began to wear down. I had reached a plateau in my playing and the seriousness of the program was becoming difficult. I was one of three undergraduate students, competing against five-seven graduate students at all times for chairs and ensemble placements. I debated quitting.

But, during my sophomore year I met Walter Brown. He was a trumpet player in the same band as me. He taught me how to listen and enjoy music in ways that I had never been able to do.

Walt, 2004

Christmas at Crown Center, 2005

We got married on July 2, 2005 (see the relating post) and took our senior years together. We even had some classes in common. Together we completed the remainder of our programs (he was a music education major) and we graduated together, on the same day, in 2006.

Walt, my mom, and me at the UMKC Commencement