Another person that had a big impact was my piano teacher Mrs. Abramsohn. A stern, no nonsense teacher, she still had a loving and compassionate heart, and she was and is one of the best teachers in this whole state, bar none. She has students who are professional pianists, making big label CD's, she has students that have gone to Juliard, Michigan, Boston Conservatory, and many others. And then she has students like me, who have no accolades, and no talent, but still turn out to be decent pianists because of her hard work and genius. She doesn't push kids to major in music, and is very non-competetive (only if you're majoring will she send you to competitions). The two things that all her students go to (Guild and MMTA) are just judgings, and skill tests. I find it interesting, though, that her students have gotten the best scores for as long as she can remember. Hmm...makes you wonder...anyways, she taught me the importance of hard work, of sticking with it, and she has really inspired me through her fierce determination to keep teaching through anything. She's beaten cancer, a broken left wrist, broken right shoulder, and hip replacement. And she's 87, thank you very much, and still drives. In those judgings listed above, and Federation also, there usually aren't Sunday judgings, all are on Saturday. She fought though, and got it changed. Thus, I was able to participate in those things...truly inspiring.

That summer after I graduated from Metro, my parents and I contemplated GLAA (Great Lakes Adventist Academy, our church boarding school), because of the friends that I could make their, of the same faith. In the end, however, from a combination of my parents wanting me home, and academic reasons, I decided to attend Novi High School. This single decision perhaps affected the entire outlook of my life, in many ways.