This life can be a very long one where we see and do many things. I believe that there are so many thresholds in one’s life, many challenges to complete. A threshold by definition is “a point of entry or beginning” which I believe is a perfect definition to the many beginnings there is in one’s life. Unfortunately many people ignore them or put them aside so they never cross these thresholds. People would rather live in their own comfortable lives and stay in their routines then go out in the world to try new things and see the many marvels of the world. Maybe I would have been like that if I had not come across the Texas Lone Star Ambassadors of Music 2012. And so being part of this group I went to many places and crossed many thresholds.
The Texas Lone Star Ambassadors of Music is a group that goes to Europe for sixteen days and has choir and band concerts as we travel. I remember the first concert we had in Europe which was in London. There was a small audience yet everybody enjoyed the music. In the first row there was an elderly group who we were told came every year to the Texas Lone Star Ambassadors Of Music concerts. A man in the front row even had an American and Texas Flag waving it proudly. Throughout the concert these people kept getting more excited clapping really loudly and a lady even got up to dance while we played the marches. When our concert came to an end we played our encore, “Star and Stripes Forever” but even after playing our encore they wanted more so we ended up playing three more encores. It was great first experience of many.
When our concerts were over our directors would encourage us to thank our audience which I did trying my best with “Merci beaucoup”, “Gratzi” or “Danke schon”. I knew that many times I had mispronounced it yet they would still smile and nod or sometimes speak back in English. I knew then that it was a new beginning, a threshold I had just crossed where I could get over my shyness and meet new people. Before the trip had even ended I was talking to many people and expressing my opinions and ideas more easily, I could finally just be myself.
Throughout the trip I witnessed many other people cross a threshold. One boy in the group had a fear of heights yet that didn’t stop him from going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. There was another girl in the group who had never been on a plane and her first time was on a plane was with a group of people she had just met. But even with these fears they had it didn’t stop them from crossing a threshold where they wouldn’t have that fear with them anymore.
Being in Europe where life is so different yet so similar to mine made me expand my horizons. I learned so much and improved my musicianship and it was all thanks to that one threshold that I crossed, life would never be the same. Especially after seeing all the gesture of kindness and unforgettable moments that I experienced.
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