The following paragraphs consist of a free write essay I wrote about myself in College
You know you’re born into Latin music when you’re awakened by the constant “pa, pa, pa, pa” of the clave and your mom's footsteps dancing across the floor at 8 a.m. I bet most kids would say, “I live in a house where on Saturday mornings, I’m pulled out of bed to the kitchen counter by the aroma of pancakes and peaceful ballads playing in the background.” But I’m thankful that my life isn’t so every day; I’m an American girl raised in a Puerto Rican household where we have three priorities: our family, our music, and our food, and yes, in that order.
Our music is loud and lively; it’s the type of music you would have to be dead not just to want to get up and dance. Interestingly enough, if I were to describe myself, my description would be very close in comparison.
One of my fondest memories of my youth is our yearly Christmas trips to Puerto Rico. My younger brother and I would beg my mother to blast the radio in the car on the way out of the airport. Similarly to how your body needs the sun, we needed the doses of our traditional Christmas music: Paranda. As a treat to us, my parents always bought us small hand instruments such as maracas and guiras. It’s funny; we may be the only family in Chicago with an entire trunk full of hand instruments.
Unlike my peers, I have the privilege of saying I am a part of a prominent, 13-member Salsa band. The band was started by my parents and their friends and backed by incredible, seasoned musicians. A group of this magnitude does not happen overnight; it’s been a long six-year (now approaching 12 years) work in progress that I have been an integral part of. Our uphill music battle has been occupied with both good and bad times. Our band has been seasoned with hard work, perseverance, love of our culture, and, most importantly, a revered passion for our music.
I have been asked what music means to me, but I would be remiss not to tell you what music has done for me. As an individual, my self-confidence has skyrocketed. I was once the girl who only sang to my shower head, and now I get on stage and sing to crowds ranging from 1 to well over 1000. As an artist, I’ve learned to break down the music rather than listen to primary melody lines. There is a difference between the music you read and the music you feel. Feeling the music takes me to a happy place; it gives me a natural high.
You can always hear one comment from the band members: "Estamos entre familia,” or We are amongst family. Family and happiness are what music has brought me and what it means to me.