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Grace Capobianco's avatar

Killer essay, Charlie. Very few writers instill in me a sense of humor, astonishment, nostalgia, and the desire to be a better human -- all at the same time -- quite like you do.

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Steven Foster's avatar

In High School I was a music kid. I took theory, jazz, concert, drum line, choir, musical theater.

I had an amazing choir/theater teacher: Mrs. Beck. Those classes taught me focus, stillness, performance, professionalism, and the intrinsic value of practice.

I barely graduated high school with like a two point something I don't know or care GPA. But I graduated with honors in music and had been celebrated at our baccalaureate as the most accomplished person in music for my little class of 300. The chords that accompanied this honor were pink. Excellent.

I never smoked, didn't drink, and when I asked my dad when I could start dating he told me as soon as I could convince someone to date me. Ouch.

Looking back, I can see now that I was looking for stillness and peace. I was someone who wanted to put beauty back into the world and music was the way I could accomplish that.

Though a surgery left me unable to sing for the rest of my life I will always answer the call to be a backup lip syncer for you Bleecker!

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