Well, fast forward a couple years to when I can remember watching music videos. Yes, the music videos. Since I was born in '98, this meant growing up to all the boy bands and stuff like that. I will never forget watching the "Larger Than Life" music video by the Backstreet Boys with my daddy and being scared of it. When I watched "I Want it That Way", I started crushing on Nick Carter. I know I was only 1 or 2 when he was 16, but that doesn't mean I can develop feelings for a guy on my computer screen, right?!
When I was 3, I fell in LOVE with "Miracles Happen" by Myra from The Princess Diaries. (By the way, SUCH a good song haha) You can even ask my parents, I would watch it everyday! Same with Sound of Music. I guess you could say those songs mean a lot to me, but it wasn't just those that motivated me.
If you've ever heard of the group Savage Garden, they have a song "I Knew I Loved You Before I Met You"(or something like that). Whenever I hear this song come on, I start balling like a baby and I can't control myself. This song, belongs to my mommy and me!
That being said, let's journey onto when I first started to watch Disney Channel. If you watched Disney Channel from 2001-2012 and you grew up watching it, you'd know what I'm talking about. If not, then bare with me. In 2003 or 2004, the movie Pixel Perfect came onto Disney Channel. Now, it was a "musical" so to speak. Every time I would watch it to the end, I would get emotional. I would cry.
Music has always had a way of touching me. It's a form of art and I guess my heart has always felt touched when it comes to moments like this.
Now, if you know me, you know that High School Musical has been my life since I was 8! I remember falling in love with watching it!! I guess it was the music before Zac Efron, but if I ever meet Zac I'll tell him it was him before the music haha!! I've always been a fan of HSM. Like they say in the movie "Once a wildcat, always a wildcat!" I don't think it helps that this movie was made in Utah...I swear I owned anything related to this movie. I had Troy, Gabriella, and Sharpay Barbie dolls, 3 different pajamas, a fan book, and the list goes on....
Well, during my HSM phase, my mom had me take piano. I have been playing it now for 12+ years. Ever since I could make a sound on the piano, I have been so in love with it. I'm not one of those pros who can play Beethoven or Mozart in 5-seconds. My gift has been sounding popular songs out.
Okay, now I want to write about flute. So, I went to Mountainville Academy 3rd-9th grades and 6th grade was in the middle school program. This was 3rd term/2nd semester that I was put into band class with Ms. Elizabeth Conner. At first, there was a band meeting to sign up for instruments to play. My mom gave me a choice between flute or clarinet. I chose flute. The moment I picked up the flute on, I was playing on a more advanced level than my classmates. I took flute lessons from Andrea Morley from 2011-2016. I learned so much!!!
With my band teacher in middle school, I just want to say how lucky I was to have her!!! Mrs. Conner/McNair will always have a special place in my heart! Why?! Cause she taught me to love music for what it is and not for the competitive nature. She also was my hero! She stood up for me when I was bullied! I was always so excited to go to school and to see Mrs. Conner and do Chicken Fat Friday or Thursday. Those were fun! She also taught me so much more than music. I will never forget her influence in my life! Without her, I don't know where I would be!
Let's quickly fast forward to 2014. I was 16 at the time and I was looking for a job. I had the idea to teach piano, so I taught it for a while, BUT low and behold...one student came to me one day and her mom said she was looking for a flute and piano teacher. This child's name was Talia Shippen. She was why I started teaching flute! I have always had a passion for helping children learn how to play flute and even though it can be a challenge, they always amaze me! I have been teaching now for 4-years and I think this year is my last, but regardless, I have enjoyed my time teaching flute and spreading joy to children!
I would like to close with one of my favorite scriptures from Doctrine & Covenants 25:12, which reads "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." This scripture is so powerful and means so much!
Music has been a way for me to express myself during difficult times in my life and I can't live without it!
Feel free to tell me what you cant live without!
Thanks!
--Lys Collier
Pictures include my students from 2015-2017
(Talia is the one next to me in the red dress)
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