At the impressionable age of 10, I began my musical journey. I remember the day we were given the option to choose to be in band and thinking why not do it? I’ll get to skip class. That day I didn’t realize that music would be such an impactful and meaningful piece in my life. I was fortunate enough to have teachers that were willing to pass down their knowledge to me and a town that valued the musical program enough to keep it going until high school. What would I have done if my town didn’t have a music program? Who would I be? What about art students who go on to college to study that very subject? These are questions that plague my mind as I watch teens move on in life to do things that they’ll regret.

Budget cuts around the country affect what programs ours schools keep or even start up. More often than not, schools will cut the funding for many of the arts because why value programs that improve more than your writing skills and your ability to say that 1+1=2. The skills learned by simply playing an instrument, singing in a choir, painting, or acting can be brought to many different fields. From confidence to determination to accountability, students in the arts use it all. I’ve seen so many students struggle with these skills overtime and if schools lack these programs or money to improve them the number of students now, will keep increasing.

My high school did not have a lot of money but the money we did have, went to new helmets for the football team and televisions in the cafeteria that never seemed to be on. I will never forget the day a few of my bandmates duct taped a sousaphone together just so our tuba player could still march with it. I’m glad to say we are at least able to come up with fast solutions in a sticky situation. If you guys want to know, the sousaphone didn’t stay together. The lack of money that these programs get affects what we are able to use making it much more difficult to provide a proper learning environment for students. Without the money for these programs we leave students without many options on what else they can do in school as a source of meeting people and learning something new.

Sports are not for everyone. Although being on TCNJ’s rugby team causes my opinion to be a little invalid, sports were most definitely not my thing in high school. I never understood why the teams at my school continuously needed new equipment. We didn’t have enough money for new Algebra textbooks but the money came flooding in at the mention of new football helmets. When certain programs got recognition over others the desire slowly dwindled. Overtime I became less fond of bent and rusty brass instruments that reflected the newly polished padding that our high school wore proudly. The money that the arts didn’t get went to improving the teams that we ranked so incredibly high.

The lack of funds each of these programs were given made it much more difficult to feel excited about them. I have never seen students slowly lose interest in something they used to have a passion in. Although money isn’t everything, it certainly does help improve what one does have. Looking back on my years in the band, I could not possibly change anything. I would do it over and over again each time that I was given the chance to but I know not everyone thinks the way I do. How many students are willing to jump into something foreign and learn things that not everyone has the opportunity to. Funding these programs is not about making them more appealing to the human eye. It is not about splurging on every possible gadget they have out there. It isn’t even about making sure that what these students will use actually works. It is about keeping an environment that students can feel less stressed in. A space for escape and peace. Who would they be? I guess we can’t tell unless we give them the opportunities to find out.