At six I first unlocked my heart through the piano. I soon turned to what my teacher called “finding myself in the music, looking beyond the notes.” The music, unlike the black notes on white paper, was richly colorful. Freeing myself from the boundaries of written notes, even for a moment, I was liberated from the trials of the present.
 
    While people were stunned at the child prodigy who swept awards at national conventions, they could not know that playing music with zest was a cry for help. Regardless of how I interpreted any music passage, I experienced comfort and hope. Music transformed my plight to a stepping-stone to wonderful dreams filled with peace.
 
    Later I was invited to perform full-length concerts as a teen, and discovered others received escape through music as I do. Then my internal monologue changed from “successful doctor, accountant, or lawyer?” to “how can I face the family stigma of a career in music?” Never resolving this struggle underneath domineering parents, I eventually took a sabbatical from studies in college to write, think, and plan.
 
    Though I am a hometown hero because of dozens of academic, volunteer and music performance achievements, few knew of the physical and verbal abuse at home that belied the “model minority gal” image the media placed on me. In An Extreme Asian American Upbringing, I recounted the struggles of my childhood and experienced some reconciliation through the written, published word. I founded the CARE (Child Abuse Resistance Education) for KIDS student organization at UF to draw more attention on domestic violence, and published a paper to expose the hidden pressures upon the children of immigrant Asians to the U.S.
Returning to an outstanding academic career at school, and tapped for an historic keynote as the first non-faculty member to address the North Florida Chinese Lunar New Year’s ceremonies, I could finally verbally share with others what I was compelled to hide for years.
 
    All of life has never before been as whole and as integrated as my musical expression. My church denomination, Great Commissions Ministries (GCM), shared my story internationally on their website to catch the hearts of many as my music has done.  Today, I arrange benefit concerts for Music Therapy International (MTI), an avant-garde organization I respect. By exposing and practicing the healing aspects of music, MTI takes large steps in faith from their comfort zone to grow larger within the boundless field of music.
 
    Through National ARTS (Artists Reaching out to Seniors/Students), I help others also realize music’s great potential. From performances to youth camps, we see firsthand the benefits of art affecting young, troubled lives. The idea of college students choosing to perform music for the elderly, over typical nights out with friends, reflects not only our moral compass but also the great fun we have performing for appreciative audiences! ARTS connections have established lifelong relationships. Friends have started popular college rock bands together, kept close touch with nursing home and youth ARTS fans, and brought them encore performances.
 
    Music awakens our souls with powerful orchestrations. I can recall directing the ensemble soundtrack to a student film, Jade and the White Tiger. The composers and I enjoyed richly our many discussions of the musical direction for each scene. It is not just art—it is science. I have discovered numerical, precise patterns in music theory that have kept me enraptured in exciting revelations. Playing piano develops a person’s cognitive motor skills, as I affirmed through research with the UF Brain Institute. Recording professional contemporary classical works for others yields a great sense of excitement.
 
    This summer, I shared the work of great female composers of the past four centuries, inspiring students abroad in Austria and Germany to live their dreams. Yes, there are noted female composers from generations before today! I had earlier concluded during a visit to the International Conference of Women Composers that both females and males have the same boundless capacities to create, a statement once deemed unacceptable in times that bred biases against the weaker gender. I was honored to help establish The International Library of Women Composers in Gainesville, the sole such library in the state of Florida, one of few in the world, preserving the legacy of brave women who rose above their times.
 
    I know that a study abroad program in Salzburg, where I learned about late eighteenth century “middle class” people, proud people who never gained a voice in Viennese society, inspired me to rise above, too. After their nation’s industrial revolution, the “peasants” finally marked and molded their country’s now classic music style. Similar independent studies of medieval music and classical piano works also have made me a still better interpreter of music in its given historical context.
 
    My desire to pursue study in England is motivated by lack of exposure to its rich keyboard music. Great Britain is pivotal in all world history, yet its classical music history seems strangely dim in comparison. What were the original English traits of keyboard music before the Continent’s influence? How do older compositions compare to those of contemporary British works?
 
    At Oxford, performing research with Dr. John Caldwell, resident expert of the Virginalists’ compositions, would be a dream gift to music scholarship, to explore and share with the world the Virginalists’ unexposed but rich musical genre. Pursuing the Masters of Philosophy in musical interpretation and performance would give me the rare opportunity to gain the most accurate interpretation of major contemporary British works. A strong background in English keyboard music would also enhance and distinguish my positions as concert pianist, musicologist, professor, and theorist.
 
    A career in music is where my heart lies. Future music endeavors would pave the way for me to continue sharing my real life experiences, which I hope will inspire others. Music is in everyone’s mind. Unless your song is sung it remains unlit. Helping others also unlock their songs and dreams through music is my dream! Thank you for considering my Rhodes application.