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By Sebastian Pierre-Louis<\/strong><\/p>\n Imagine this: You love music but you feel very worried and uncertain about your future. Playing music in high school is one thing, but making sure you know how to make music a career path coming out of high school is another.<\/p>\n I spoke with Avi Mehta, the music teacher at the Margarita Muniz Academy. \u201cIn Boston alone, there are only four high schools that have a band program. One of those four schools [Boston Arts Academy] is a highly competitive music-education-oriented school that only a limited number of students may get into.\u201d Mehta continues, \u201cMusic has been proven to really help with students\u2019 cognitive functions….you learn how to do many things at once, which is really good for your brain. Especially at a young age, music really gets you to think with your executive functions: note reading, fingering the instrument valves, and [figuring out] what to do with your mouth.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n I would like to believe I\u2019m a student who works hard at music and tries to get better, but the big problem, is where can I go with music? How do I get my foot in the door? I asked Avi Mehta, and he had the following advice: \u201cStudents like you have to be two things,\u201d he said. \u201cA person with a lot of heart and motivation, and a person that is really smart in preparing themselves for a bunch of experiences and opinions. Make a great first impression with anyone who comes across your way as a music student. Going into music and the business of music involves learning real-life skills. Life skills are important in any field, but with music it\u2019s all about networking, who you know, and having great people skills.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n
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