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Given my name
After much deliberation at the hospital and before then, my parents decided to name me Brian Kayley. This is certainly no ordinary name for a baby girl and since the moment they gave it to me, I was forever graced with a story to tell. Bearing the name Brian as a girl though, has forced me to face a variety of comments, questions, and assumptions from a young age. Odds are, it has made me more confident than I would have been otherwise. -
Chose cello
When I was in the fourth grade, I was given the choice to play the violin, viola, or cello. Of course being the overly ambitious child I was, I chose the largest and most difficult to transport option. From then on, I have played the cello, both loving and hating it at different points and sometimes all at the same time.
During the newly added October break -
San Francisco road trip
During the newly added October break during eighth grade, my mother and I had the brilliant idea to drive all the way up to San Francisco from Tucson. I loved this trip. It was just her and I and the PCH and the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. We made the whole trip in four days and saw an impressive amount of the city and many other places along the ride. -
Talent show
Towards the end of eighth grade, my middle school had a talent show; one where you had to audition and everything. At this point, I had maybe more than a slight notion that I wanted to be a performer. I was curious as to whether I could actually make myself get up on stage in front of a few hundred people and actually perform. So I signed myself up for singing and playing guitar just to see if I could do it. -
Meet my director
While touring a couple of high schools I was looking at attending, I stopped in on the orchestra class at Sabino High School. I met the orchestra teacher there that day. I didn't know it at the time but, in a matter of a year I would not only be in his orchestra class but participate in Winter Drumline, Marching Band, Drumline, and percussion masters class. My life truly begain to evolve around music because of the mentor I found in my director and the home I found in the program he ran. -
North Carolina road trip
The summer of my freshman year in high school, my mother, brother, and I took an extremely ambitious road trip to North Carolina. It was, by far, the longest I have ever spent in a car.The experiences on this trip will forever remain with me. From the expanses of Texas, the culture hub of New Orleans, and my first time on the east coast, we left very little undiscovered. -
Move in with my dad
Just before my sophomore year started, my brother and I both moved into our father's house from our mother's. After only spending weekends there for as long as I could remember, such a change was drastic. However, with my mom traveling between Tucson and Indianapolis constantly and staying for increased periods of time due to her work, it became a necessary change. We've been learning to figure out how all of these changes work and how we function with them. -
Band Camp
On of the experiences that pushed me harder, both physically and mentally, than anything else I have ever done, was band camp. The extreme hours and the stress of learning a new instrument, learning to march, learning about a group that big, meeting so many new people...all demanded more of me than I had ever given to something before. I was scared, exhausted, stressed, and yet somehow, still having the time of my life with my new section. Looking back on it, I am immensely proud of it all. -
Rad
In march of this year, I went to a friends house and picked out my best friend and greatest pain; a puppy I later named Rad. He is the first dog that I fully claim as mine, even though half the time I think I regret such a decision. When things are a bit more difficult to deal with at home or between homes, he is my bud; always there, always wanting attention, and letting me forever count on there being a mess to clean up. -
UA Band Day
The pinnacle of my marching career will likely remain U of A Band Day. The shear scale of performing in the University of Arizona Stadium will remain with me for the rest of my life, I have no doubt. Such a venue proved to my bad and myself just what working hard can do and where it can take you. -
My mom moves to Indianapolis
During Christmas break from school, my mom came back to town to celebrate with us. She was also there to finally pack up all of her things from her house and drive them back up to Indy in a u haul truck. I spent my winter break packing up my mom's things so that she could leave. This was definitely a turning point for my family and how we functioned.
