PROLOGUE

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'Never let the opinion of others stop you from claiming what is yours' -Hasbi

My grandmother often joked that the very first word I uttered in my very early years of life was the word Vienna- a song from her favourite musician, Billy Joel's The stranger album. I remembered how her boisterous laughter filled the air as she reminisced about how I would dance and clap as soon as she played the song on her old vinyl player, not stopping until the song had finally come to an end. She was an enormous fan of classic rock, but at the same time was an old soul. I could still recollect the many times we would sit on her floral sofa listening to the soulful words of Stevie Wonder or the beautiful voice of Whitney Houston, not speaking but just listening. I couldn't actually pin point the exact time I fell in love with music, sometimes I wondered if I would have loved it as much without her influence, but deep down I knew I would have, music was embedded in me and I had the voice to prove it. I was good, I knew I was good, maybe not the best but I knew with more practise I would get there someday. My grandmother's influence only intensified my love for it and sometimes I wished her daughter had inherited that same gene from her.

My parents were complete opposites of my grandmother, which is why when she passed on two years back, due to old age; I knew the fleeting chance of me pursuing music as a career was out the window. My parents didn't abhor music, in fact they had a little music collection they listened to every now and then. However, they abhorred me following music as a career path. We were wealthy or at least my parents were. My father was the CEO of a technological company right in my hometown in New Orleans and my mother on the other hand was the epitome of a perfect housewife. The kind that always knew the right things to say when her and my father were speaking to wealthy investors and the kind that never forgot to put on a beloved pair of her Louis Vuitton's wherever she went. Sometimes I think my mother understood, considering once upon a time, she had dreamt of becoming a ballerina; unfortunately grandma's business stopped doing well, bills started piling up and before she knew it ,that little dream had faded into a distant memory. She finished college and not long after, got a job as a secretary in a marketing company, where she met my father, whom back then was just another client looking for perfect marketing for his products. A year later, they were married and nine months later were expecting a child.

My father on the other hand was a strict business man, even when he didn't need to be. Any attempt of me convincing them of my dream was proved futile as long as he was in the equation. He shut it down as soon as it was brought up and would more than occasionally get angry at what he described 'a measly attempt to convince him to ruin my future'. It was not a situation up for discussion or negotiation. It was a strict NO and because my mother loved him and hated to disagree with him, she was on his side as well. It was the two of them against me. I knew he loved me, they both did and I guess in some way, they thought they were helping me but even as that, they couldn't understand me. The only person that did wasn't with us anymore.

They wanted me to go to Yale; graduate with a degree in law and become one of those upper class lawyers you find on the streets of New York, something they could brag to their friends about, but I couldn't do it, I wouldn't do it. I had promised my grandma that I would never let the opinion of others stop me from claiming what was mine . I knew for sure my heart wasn't in law, which led me to where I was now; uncomfortably seated on the leather chair in the Manhattan School of Performing Arts clutching The stranger album in my hand. It reminded me of her. Even though I had no one with me in the flesh, I knew she was with me in spirit and without her I would never have even half of the courage to do this. As I changed my position on the uncomfortable chair, I held the Billy Joel album to my chest as I awaited the biggest audition of my life.

 As I changed my position on the uncomfortable chair, I held the Billy Joel album to my chest as I awaited the biggest audition of my life

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⏰ Last updated: Mar 19, 2016 ⏰

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