My participation in "Hipbone" is an example of my determination to be well-rounded and to improve myself continually in different areas: academics, the arts, and athletics. During college, I took classes in math, economics and computers alongside classes in theater arts and English. Prior to playing in a band, I had had only modest academic success. I initially entered college as an electrical engineering major, but soon discovered I did not enjoy the heavy emphasis on science. As a result, I was unmotivated, disillusioned, and found it hard to concentrate on any of my studies. I was reluctant to change majors for a long time because, being an extremely persistent person, I did not want to feel as though I had given up. At the beginning of my junior year, I finally changed majors and coincidentally began playing bass. The end result of these two changes re-emphasized the importance of having a well-balanced life and pursuing activities that I enjoy. My grades developed a steady upward rhythm, averaging 3.5 for my last two years.
The band progressed and began to play for live audiences. My first experience on stage was nothing short of terrifying. Afterwards, people told me that our performance might have been better had we not looked so much like frightened little children. Fortunately, we began to play for others more frequently and with greater success, and actually began to entertain our audiences as we became more confident in ourselves. As our successes grew, we began to regard our music more seriously and played at literally all the major Hollywood clubs (The Roxy, the Whisky-A-Go-Go, Gazarri''s, The Troubadour) and received airplay on several local radio stations. The pinnacle of our career was headlining at Gazarri''s for a crowd of over 300 people.