Ears are for Listening and a Dream is not so far away by Mikaela Rein

Ears are for Listening and a Dream is not so far away by Mikaela Rein - April 2025 Scholarship Essay

Being one of the children in the house, between my older sister and younger brother, there was always a gap between my family and I. I’d always dream of hanging out with my sister and we’d become a duo of princesses, but it never happened. My sister never seemed to like me around unless it was to her own benefit; to which I felt obligated to adhere. We never wanted to do anything similar because we were so different. She’d often push me away or roll her eyes if I stepped into a room. I’d hope for the day she’d take the time out of her childhood to spend some of it with me. Of course we had our moments we shared that were agreeable upon, but mostly separated. This carried on when my younger brother was born. Although entertaining him and trying to bond with him, he was after all a boy and I was only a girl. There were clear differences in that he wanted me to play with my pony figurines in a story I didn’t like. My family never kept their eyes on him, allowing him to lose countless pieces to my gorgeous toy castles. Which I still hold a grudge against. Always asking them to tell my brother not to play with my toys unless I was home, it never happened once that I came home with everything untouched.
Whether I wanted my sister to like me or that I wanted my brother to keep his hands on his own things, I realized one thing. I wanted everything to go my way. No matter if I threw a fit and complained for a whole day or if I pleaded down to the ground, I’d have the right to anything. This wish is selfish, but it worked and the more I did it the more I began to create. Obviously I didn’t always get everything and anything, so I’d dream of moments where things could happen. To what some may call creative thinking, I called it another world. That was art to me. A way to express myself and my feelings when I couldn’t in person. Starting out with simple drawings, I now admire the art of music. Emotions in an art piece is one thing, but in music you can truly feel the passion someone puts into it in their heart. The feelings I couldn’t share with my siblings and the criticism I faced for not being able to speak up. Music always turned to soothe me rather than my frustration with sketching. That sometimes the beat and rhythm would lift someone up or bring someone down; the strong emotions in a single song shared by listening was a dream come true. Which is why I’ve decided to major in music. For the times people have turned me away, I could finally have the chance of someone listening to me.