By: Mike Cantor
The first time music affected me was when I was five years old. I grew up listening to countless great records that my family had, by luminaries like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, and countless others. At the same time, I began taking piano lessons from my neighbor. I was immersed into music at a very young age, and began enjoying the rush that playing or listening gave me. The next year I began taking guitar lessons, and later on I would take up the electric bass. I joined my first band at age 14, and played my first live concert not too long after. By 17, I had established a reputation as being one of the best musicians in the town. I toured in Russia as a member of my high school’s concert choir. By graduation, I was in a band that was playing up and down the Northeast and eventually recorded two albums. Music was a big part of my life, and it was my way to become who I wanted to be. I was bullied constantly in grade school. At first, it was just from classmates. They would tear me down with words so vile that I wouldn't dare print them in this writing. Then, by my teenage years, not only did the students bully me, the teachers and principal at my high school bullied me. They took away things I loved to do, and would verbally berate me at any opportunity they would get. Any time I tried to defend myself, they would suspend me. At age 16, I was so desperate after being run into the ground repeatedly by students, teachers, and administrators that I had to change high schools. Things changed when I got to the new school, and things were great after that. I went to Russia with that school’s choir group, and was a member of the tech crew for theatrical productions. The thing that kept me sane, the thing that kept me from flying off the handle during the bad times was music. It was my escape from the harsh realities that plagued my childhood. Music took me out of the world of being an overweight, nerdy, constantly picked on kid to being able to act like I was in Van Halen or KISS. I was able to put on a persona that had an air of confidence, of happiness, of excitement. Playing on stage, playing and getting positive reactions from crowds made me happy, and it carried over into my life off stage. I was able to hold on, I was able to stay hopeful because I always had my music to keep me happy. Even when I was in the deepest depressions of my life, I was able to keep hope that I would pull through. When I transferred to the other school, things finally started to improve. The hope kept me going, and the hope paid off. I was able to play in a decently well known regional band for eight years, along with playing gigs with other bands as a hired musician, and was able to know that I overcame those obstacles because I kept the hope that things would change. Music saved my life, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I survived some horrible things as a child and as a teenager, and music helped me through it. I survived, and as an adult I thrive due to the confidence I gained through music.
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