El Sistema Oklahoma (ESO) has been impacting the lives of students for over 10 years. One of those students started ESO when she was in 5th grade. Her grandparents were raising her, and although she was highly intelligent, she struggled with anger. She was so shy that she would rarely talk. She had such a fear of failure that if she made a mistake playing her instrument in front of others, it might take her a week to pick up the instrument again. For the first couple of years, she struggled, but the strength of the ESO program is that it meets the students where they are. Over time the ESO staff witnessed the young woman gain confidence playing her instrument, and even said she liked it.
ESO encourages students to show respect and kindness for one another, and this student embraced those values. She began helping around the site, volunteering to come in and spend additional time assisting the younger children. When she entered high school, she expressed an interest in teaching, and when she reached the age of 16, the leadership of ESO offered her a paid position as a teaching assistant. She thrived in the position and made it her goal to give other children the confidence and opportunity that she had found at El Sistema.
Through the money she earned from her ESO job and a second job she had taken, she saved enough money to purchase her own car. She was also excelling at school. She was first chair in her high school orchestra and did well in many musical competitions around the city and state. Through support from ESO and her school, she applied for financial aid and enrolled at UCO as a music education major. Upon her graduation from high school, ESO gifted her a new instrument.
To this day she continues to teach with El Sistema and uses the money to support herself through college. She has completely paid for college on her own without support from her family. From the painfully shy 5th grader who couldn’t look someone in the eye, she has now grown into an incredibly strong woman who wants to make a difference in the lives of children.
Next year will be her final year in college and she says that without El Sistema, she has no idea of where she would have ended up. She loves El Sistema as her family and is forever grateful for the program, the staff, the volunteers, and the support that has changed her life. Her transformation represents the mission of El Sistema Oklahoma: to serve the community by engaging children within an ensemble-based music program so they can share the joy of music-making and grow as responsible and productive citizens.
El Sistema Oklahoma – Learn more at elsistemaok.org
