After the band perfmorance, my lips were dry and burned bright red; the skin was flaky, peeling horribly, and blood drizzled from the tired cracks. My tired eyes, worn from the continous reading of fast-paced rhythms, ached from the bright lights and dehydration gnawed at every part of me. On the car ride home, I felt, truly, like I had just walked across the Sahara Desert, only to be forced to walk back again. Playing trombone for three hours tends to have such an effect. However, it didn’t take long until we – which included my family and I – made it back to our house.
Tunbuckled my seatbelt with lazy hands, only supported by fatigued wrists, and was barely able to lug myself from the seat and to the door. Upon making it inside, however, it was much to my parent’s discontent that I did not stop for a glass of water or food or even the slightest bit of chapstick. Instead, I threw my weary self onto the couch, grabbed the remote for the television and clicked “resume”; on the screen, Alex Turing was solving the Nazi Enigma code. As I sat licking my lips and stretching, I was careful to take note of how the characters acted and behaved at pivotal intervals.
Actors and actresses were the second best thing to real people, and gave me great insight into the everchanging riddle that is human behavior. There are many things that one may not know about me, such as: I play trombone and baritone for multiple bands and ensembles, my favorite movie is “The Imitation Game”, and I enjoy watching and learning about human behavior. First, something that many do not know is that I play the trombone and baritone.
Thad attempted the viola in fourth grade, and then the guitar is sixth… either instrument held my interest for very long, and I moved on and accepted that perhaps I was never meant to play an instrument. However, my sister, Avery, who was finishing fourth grade, happened to play drums very well. Mr. Biddle, the East York and York Suburban Middle School band director loved her, and at the same time, needed more trombone players. He invited me to try it out, and after some consideration – by which I mean some arm-twisting on my mother’s part – I decided to give it a go. After the first few practices, I had made up my mind.
I was not a viola player. | was not a guitar player. I was a trombone player! By the end of summer, I was the second chair trombone out of four others. Since then, I have made and grown closer to many friends and have gotten more opportunities that I never would have known about or experienced otherwise. Playing an intrument has enabled me to spend time doing something that is fun and yet mentally challenging; it excercises my mind while keeping me occupied (something my parents are also very excited about).
While the latter are important, one of the most important things is that I get to play with my sister. I had never been involved musically, or much at all, with her until this year; now, we play in many of the same bands and at many gigs. These points are oritone have opened up a important because trombone and baritone have opene world of possibilies for me; I can play for fun, with my sister, and with my friends. Hence, one may now know that I play the trombone and baritone. Also, many people do not know that one of my favorite movies is “The Imitation Game”.
I absolutely adore the movie; one of the biggest contributing factors to this is the beautiful script and lovely cinematography. The actor’s lines were sophistacated and clever as opposed to immature and without thought and the director clearly took time with each scene. The characters, also, were as intriguing as the script and cinematography, particularly the main character, Alan Turing. A true genius in every sense of the word, he was socially awkward and had little idea of how to handle other people.
The watcher couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the intelligent introvert who was as smart alicky as he was endearing. Another element that added to the appeal of this movie was it’s in-the-face, no-holds-barred portrayal of anti-Gay laws in the United Kingdom and throughout the world. Though Alan Turing had solved one of the most complicated codes that had ever existed, created the mother of all computers, and had essentially won World War II, he was simply disregarded by a whole country as a homosexual.
Because of him being gay, he was persecuted and forced into hormonal treatment (also known as chemical castration); during this time, he developed depression, lost muscle mass and bone density, and experienced gynecomastia. One year after starting treatment, Turing killed himself. These reasons are all important to me; rhis movie has single handedly taught me about diminishing prejudice and carved a soft spot within me regarding not only LGBT rights, but rights for any and all humans. As one can see, one of my favorite movies is “The Imitation Game”.
Furthermore, something that many people do not know is that I enjoy studying and learning about human behavior. Being fourteen, I witness moods changing constantly; by watching those around me, I’m able to predict (at least most of the time) who will react to what and how. It helps me remain cautious of what I say and how I say it. However, teenage behavior is not the only kind I pay attention to; I spend time observing people of all ages. Learning why people do certain things – if it’s environment or inherited – is by far the most interesting to me.
One of the more common and obvious examples of this is siblings; while it may be stereotyped, I have noticed time and time again that those without siblings tend to be more dependant and “touchy-feely” than those with brothers and/or sisters. This is important because learning about human behavior has helped me many times in dealing with people of different backgrounds and different lifestyles; honestly, I tend to get a little bull-headed and judgemental. Knowing how to act and why keeps me from hurting feelings and helps me on a daily basis. So, I enjoy watching and learning about human behavior.
As stated before, three things that many people do not know about me are: I play trombone and baritone, one of my favorite movies is “The Imitation Game”, and I enjoy learning about and observing human behavior. No matter how tiring a band performance may be, I love to come home, relax by watching an interesting movie, and enjoy watching interactions between characters. In conclusion, there are a few things that some don’t know about me, such as: I play trombone and baritone, my favorite movie is “The Imitation Game”, and that I have a passion for the study of human behavior.