We have had a lot of wonderful writing entered in our Junior Writing Competition.

The junior writing competition results are:

Creative Prose

1st - Frances Reid (untitled)

2nd - Tamsin Norrish "Fallen Tree"

3rd - Caitlyn Smith "Surrounded"

Highly Commended: Georgia McKinnon

Poetry

1st - Felix Robinson "Need a title..."

2nd - Nikau Kaan "Personified Paper"

3rd - Grace Fagerand "Answer"

Highly Commended: Marco Forella, Isaac Simons, Jake Knox

Formal Writing

1st - David Zheng (untitled)

2nd - Maia Jack "The Veldt" essay

3rd - Grace Fagerland "Challenger Deep" essay

Highly Commended: Xander Gosling

Creative Prose 1st - Frances Reid (untitled)

“I think it will be safer if we go down this way” Nia was trying to sound confident, trying to prove she knew what she was doing to herself more than me. Given our daily experience of the last week or two, ‘safer’ didn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of being chased by one of the freaks tracking us down. We kept believing that travelling down a dark and hidden direction would make it harder for whoever was hunting us to find where we were. It never did. But I still let it fill me with a false sense of security for the moment. I felt Nia tremble slightly as she took my hand in hers. A tendril of her black hair almost obscured her face, as determined as she tried to appear she couldn’t hide the glint of fear in her sharp, blue eyes.

“Come on, Amber. The sooner we’re out of this place the better.” Nia gripped my hand tighter and pulled me along. Any sense of safety I had before quickly melted away as we stepped down the narrow alleyway between two rows of deteriorating apartments.

I couldn’t help but feel unnerved by the rhythmic pattern of our footsteps eerily echoing off the walls. The unnatural, cheap white light of the occasional street lamp was swallowed up by the pitch darkness, only illuminating the area enough to create warped, twisting shadows on the increasing clutter. Neither of us said a word, perhaps we both thought that if we both stayed silent no one would know we were here. Each step felt excruciatingly loud.

I felt a fear begin to set in, Something was wrong, I felt like we were being watched. I tried to ignore it but I couldn’t. We weren’t safe. Something was definitely watching us. A sound. A footstep out of sync with our own. I froze, still holding on to Nia’s hand. Another sound. A hand reaching for something. A knife? A gun?

Please don’t say anything Nia I silently pleaded to myself as I pulled her behind some crates. She didn’t. I felt the air grow heavy as if it were trying to keep us here. Panic set in as I heard another step. Louder. Closer. My heart started racing. Another step. Then the unmistakable click of a loaded gun.

“Run” Nia grabbed my hand and pulled me away. We ran. Immediately I heard someone after us, gaining on us. I ran faster, faster than I thought I could, making sure I held on to Nia’s wrist. I couldn’t see. The shadows were disorientating and the ground seemed to be trying to make me trip. I heard a muffle of shouts from behind me. There were more of them. Out of the midst a gun fired. The noise cut through the air and hit the wall beside me. In shock and out of balance I tried to keep running but something caught on my foot. I fell forward into a pole. The world flashed white on the impact. I felt Nia slip from my fingers. Dim light distorted and the world seemed to spin. Pain throbbed in my head. I tried to call for Nia but I couldn’t form any words. I heard them approaching behind me. I couldn’t find any strength to react. The last thing I felt was the cold concrete on my face as everything went black.

Creative Prose 2nd - Tamsin Norrish "Fallen Tree"

Have you ever seen a crazy person? Sceaming, rocking back and forward, mood swings, impulsive behaviour.

Benjamin ran into the room screaming like a balloon set loose, he was then a rotten tree falling to the cold concrete ground. There he lay. A motionless stick, skinny and frail. Until he wasn't. His eyes opened and steered beyond the world, as thick clouds shrouded their pounamu center. At the same time rivers of lava made epic cross country trips over their yellow stained surface. When the paramedics helped him sit up, his ebony hair, that would have once, long ago shone like diamonds in the sun and flowed like the continuous currents of the deep sea. Now cut to sit on the collarbones and dulled from years of washing with harsh soap, flops onto his neck. There it sits, barely alive, in knots and dents. And as he fell for a final time it flowed past his empty cheeks then flopped onto the ground like dead, dry, hay in a field.

The first time I met Benjamin he was playing chess backwards with himself (which I still don't understand), upon winning the game he celebrated by breaking into the pharmacy and consuming unworldly amounts of fish oil. He then proceeded to play a game he calls waking the dead, which involves him laying on the ground and trying to bite anyone walking within a meter radius of his swiss cheese teeth. After half an hour of unsuccessful attempts. Benjamin calmly stood up on his twig legs, walked over to the couches, picked up a newspaper, sat down and started reading it like all the events of the last 45 minutes had never happened. From that day on Benjamin did many such things, all similar, but never quite the same.

Benjamin had been here since before I arrived and unlike all the others this was his home, whenever someone mentioned going home he just stared at them with a worried look on his withered face and with confusion in his eyes and in a shaky voice he would whimper a quiet “What?” His constant presence in the building was an odd comfort to me. Benjamin was like that old tree in your backyard that you never look at twice, or even think about, but if it was gone the delicate balance of the yard would be put off. Nothing here was ever the same after he was gone. 

Creative Prose 3rd - Caitlyn Smith "Surrounded"

She could hear the pounding echo of her footsteps bouncing off the sticky walls. Everything was closing in, blending into the darkness surrounding her. The light a tiny pinprick off in the distance. She felt empty, but the tunnel had eyes, almost as if they were watching her like prey wandering endlessly inside its cage. She wanted to find a way out but she knew it was safer hiding in the dark shadow of the tunnel.

It wasn't until now that she realized the sun was rising, she didn't want them to find her here. Looking through the dusky dark air of the tunnel, in the distance, she saw a shadow of what seemed to be a man, he was wearing a long cloak that was tightly hugging his large figure. She could feel her heart pounding out of her chest begging to be heard. Anna started to panic, was it him? Could this be the end? Quietly but quickly she tried to find somewhere to hide. The shadow came closer. Did he know she was there? Anna was breathing so loud that she could almost hear it echoing off the walls. She froze knowing she had to make a decision now, as it could be the difference between life and death, that didn't make it any easier. She got low to the ground, but the stench of the damp tunnel floor was suffocating her. She was now positioned next to the wall crouching down. She felt cold and damp. Next to her, she saw something crawling up the dripping wall, something hairy with many legs. She let out a scream, and instantly she covered her mouth with her hand. If he didn’t know she was there before, he definitely knew where she was now.

Now her fight or flight was kicking in, she immediately started running fast out the other end of the tunnel, her vision was becoming blurry, as she was overwhelmed with fear.

“Come back!” the man shouted in a deep raspy voice that bounced off the tunnel walls.

She could see the light from the man’s torch behind her lighting up the exit of the tunnel. She felt an itch to look behind her, still running she turned her head around and saw the man was gone. The sun now shone bright through the clouds but she still felt the eyes of the tunnel watching her. The tunnel no longer felt safe, instead, it became a chamber for her fears that were all in her head.

Creative Prose Highly Commended: Georgia McKinnon

Three Words

Small, intricate and wooden; my hands trace over its elegantly curved figure, light in my tightly clenched fist. Memories flood me, drowning thoughts of happiness washed out by howling, louder and more immense than I can begin to comprehend. Cascades of salt water gush over my head, stinging my eyes, throbbing and red. My throat is dry, choked up on desert sand.

The drop in my chest hits me as waves of lost warriors have surged up through my heart, spears ripping through my veins. Grief takes over my body, a blanket of grey mist enveloping my every sense.

The shell of my body curls into a tight ball in the darkness that surrounds me, the tears fall softly from my eyes now as the hollowness of absence takes over. ‘Why is it so empty?’ I whimper, trembling in my tightened form. ‘It’s grief’ my mother replies from my bedside; tiredness ever present in her hazel eyes.

I trace my fingers over its smooth surface once more, letting the moonś soft cradle rock me to sleep.

Sunlight shines bright and gold, streaming through my white framed bedroom windows. The delicate smell of fresh spring flowers circles my head. A familiar weight rests upon my chest. Warmth and laughter fill the sweet air. Outside blossoms scatter the ground, freshly fallen off silver and amber strewn branches.

Waves lap at my feet sending splinters of graceful ice through my toes. The vast mass of stars above our heads fill the sky with thousands of gleaming lanterns. Hands held tightly together through the shadows of the night.

A soft glow cast across the room, quiet and safe. The distant echo of raging white stallions rampaging the shoreline, their footsteps carry me to the far off lands of the subconscious mind.

Poetry 1st - Felix Robinson "Need a title..."

I can feel their stares, burrowing into my back from across the room,

Their smiles, their laughter, their offers of friendship and acceptance,

Each one another stone on my cairn… Burying me deeper and deeper in the darkness…

The weakest link a a gossamer chain,

Left to rot with the dregs of humanity,

With the sadness and horror,

The suffering.

The pain.

The pain of the truth.

The realisation that their nightmares are not trapped in dreams.

All in the stroke of a brush, the drop of a pin. The blink of an eye.

And when they realise, they beg. They weep and scream and bribe and threaten.

All to no avail. There’s no going back.

And they will have their final revelation.

There. Is. No. Coming. Back. From. Death.

And they will vanish.

Gone forever.

Into the void.

The Stygian depths.

Abyssal wraiths dancing in and out.

The only light down here. I have seen it. Firsthand.

Seen the forsaken king and his boulder.

Seen the winding path of kings set with gold.

Drenched with the blood of others.

And I have seen those who walk it.

And those who are wiser.

And do not play these twisted games.

Lords, Fools, Peasants and Kings.

Some find the third option.

And set aside their humanity,

Their sorrow,

Their pride,

And take the leap.

Down.

Poetry 2nd - Nikau Kaan "Personified Paper"

Each day my pale skin is tattooed with people's minds

Ideas engraved into me as words and drawings

Children manipulating me into boats and planes

News is forced into my skull and spread around the world

A product of society

All I know is what is written on me

Years pass

With the rise in technology I am not needed by people anymore

Why write when they can type

No longer is my skin tattooed or folded

Now I lie in people’s basements untouched

But when people are destroyed by the technology which consumed them

I will remain.

Poetry 3rd - Grace Fagerand "Answer"

Alone in the dark

suffocating in my sweater,

3 things occur.

Number 1: a thought

Number 2: an action

Number 3: a reply

1. A thought is so many things.

A push to do something,

or merely statements crossing your mind,

no meaning whatsoever.

2. An action can hold so much meaning

so much emotion.

Just a touch can ground someone,

the push of a button

can do so much.

3. You can never begin to know

how much a reply can do.

It can grant a sense of validation,

something we all crave.

It's in our nature.

And these 3 things make up a story.

I mean,

if you think about it,

everything makes up a story.

But this story

that I'm about to tell you

is extraordinary.

Or rather,

extra-ordinary.

I sit in the cold,

a typical autumn night.

A thought crosses my mind

and before I can think,

I act.

And before long,

I forget.

A distant sound

awakens me, and

I see a flash of color.

A reply.

I ponder it for quite some time,

making sure that

my mind does not deceive me

like it has

time and time before.

After a while,

it truly sinks in.

Someone has answered the call.

Poetry Highly Commended: Marco Forella - Books

Books are a portal leading to an alternate dimension

They can take you places you never thought existed

Books are artificial dreams for those that have lost their imagination

They stimulate and tease the mind

And they summon the deepest thoughts that were left behind

Their pages are flicked from side to side like fins of swift fish

Their secrets leak from their thin fingers

They convey their knowledge and wisdom towards the sky

Books

Poetry Highly Commended: Isaac Simons - I am the ocean

I am the ocean

I swallow up ships and spit out waves

I have many deep secrets that people yearn to find

Storms poke my surface with their swords of light

The monsters inside me dwell,

awaiting fresh prey

I am taking over the world with my melting icebergs

As I get bigger they get smaller

I am the ocean

Poetry Highly Commended: Jake Knox - Nebulae

Crystalline splinters smeared across the night.

Clusters of illumination, highlighting the sculpted horizon.

They take me far away into the galaxy.

Washing away my worries,

Like the endless tide.

Formal Writing 1st - David Zheng (untitled)

The film The Hate U Give uses many film techniques to highlight the contrast between Garden Heights and Williamson. This contrast helps show the less obvious kind of racism that Starr, her community, and people of colour as a whole face. It shows how ignorance, misunderstanding and hypocrisy may be subtle, but are still impactful and hurtful to those it is directed at, as much as the more obvious forms of racism.

A human eye perceives a blueish white as more clean, more perfect than a more warm toned white. Williamson as a whole is tinted blue, the uniform is navy, the school is mostly blue, and all the scenes that it features in are colour graded to be more blue. Garden Heights has a more warmish tone. The blue tone that Williamson has makes it seem more perfect than Garden Heights, as everything looks more perfect because of the way we perceive the colour blue. Starr’s “version two” personality is built to deal with this environment, a personality tailor made for the unfair standards that the other people at Williamson hold her to. It was to others (at Williamson) who she should have been, not who she wanted to be, or who she was. Starr says in her voiceover “Slang makes them cool. Slang makes me hood”. This perfectly summarizes how she was treated at school, having to adhere to different standards than the white students. Starr was subject to the hypocrisy of the school environment, adhering (in the beginning) to an unfair double standard. The appearance of Williamson implies perfection. In this case, “perfection” is an unfair standard that others hold you to. The hypocrisy that Starr faces in the movie is reflected in the world we live in today. People are still subject to different standards and expectations just because of the colour of their skin today, and one of the worst things about this is how subtle it can be, like how Williamson is subtly just more blue than Garden Heights.

Anamorphic lenses and spherical lenses create different effects. A spherical lense simply acts normally and captures what could be considered natural on camera. An anamorphic lense however stretches the image (which is re-adjusted in post production to be not stretched) and creates things like stretched lights in the background and hazy lens flares. The overall effect that anamorphic lenses create is a more nostalgic feel when compared to spherical lenses, as the hazy lens flares and painting like unfocused backgrounds make the scenes feel much more like a warm memory. Anamorphic lenses are used in the Garden heights scenes and not the Williamson scenes. This subtly hints that Starr feels out of place in Williamson, and is much more home in Garden Heights, and highlights how most of the people at Williamson don't understand Starr and the problems she faces. “It’s all ‘our’, ‘us’ and black lives matter until you clutch your purse in an elevator with a black person”. Starr says this to Hailey, and perfectly sums up how people's misunderstanding or sometimes ignorance of the effects of their own actions harms others. The Hate U give shows that as Starr said “ …You don’t have to say the N-word or use a fire hose on black people to be racist”. The difference in lenses used in different places in the Hate U Give helps to show how people are sometimes oblivious to how their actions affect other people, by contrasting Williamson from Garden Height, an environment where subtle racist things aren’t culturally appropriate, and Williamson, where they are.

Different uses of the camera help to frame Williamson and Garden Heights, setting a mood and feel for both of the places. This use of the camera helps to show the not so direct ways that racism affects people of colour, the double standards, the stereotypes, and some people's inability to see how the aforementioned actions hurt other people. This doesn’t just happen in movies. This applies to the real world, people hurt people by doing what they consider normal and culturally appropriate. Sometimes, like in the case of racism, this goes on, and it takes much too long for anyone who isn’t a victim of this to realize that something isn’t right. It’s easier for a person not on the receiving side of the this hate to rationalise it, like how at somepoint, slavery was fine be cause “black people were animals” and deserved to live the way they did. The world needs to stop, and never again start rationalising racism. 

Formal Writing 2nd - Maia Jack "The Veldt" essay

In the short story The Veldt by Ray Bradbury, an important relationship was the one between the parents, Lydia, and George, and the children, Peter and Wendy. The author used this relationship to show how important it is for parents to be involved in their children’s lives - how the children became spoiled and not unable to understand emotions.

The first reason their relationship is flawed is that the children never had a chance to form a connection with their parents. Everything that was done for them was done by the house - to them, their parents are just people who live in the same house. Even the parents know this. Lydia says, “The house is wife and mother now”. This quote shows how the parents never truly interacted with their children - they never washed them, dressed them, fed them, never did any of the things a proper parent would do for their kids. Because of this the children had to find something else to call ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ so they turned to the Nursery, because it has always been there to fulfill their needs. The Nursery does everything they want. The author used this to show how the children had imprinted on the nursery instead of their own parents because of how little the parents were in their lives. In the real world we see how the younger generation is growing up with a lot more technology around them and how much stuff you can access on the internet. Children are now learning through devices, devices can entertain the children, teach the children, do all the things which are necessary for parents to do if they wish to form a relationship with their kids. The devices become more involved in the children’s life than their own parents are. There is a bond that family has, an unconditional love, an inability to hate your family members no matter what they do. This bond was what the Hadley family lacked.

The second aspect which resulted in the flawed relationship between the parents and children is that the children don’t think of their parents as their superiors. The children often treat their parents as if they are lower than them. An example of this is when George is thinking about turning off the Nursery, Peter says, “I don’t think you’d better consider it anymore, Father.” Here, Bradbury was showing how the children had become entitled due to their lack of discipline. Peter believes he is on a level where he can look down on his father and threaten him. In the modern world, a very large percentage of children have a device available for their use, and they become isolated from the real world. They fail to develop communication skills, such as listening. In a healthy parent-child relationship, there is communication. The parents listen to the child and the child listens to the parents. In this story, the children don’t listen to their parents. They don’t listen to anyone, because they have never suffered from the consequence of not listening. Peter and Wendy’s life is centered around the Nursery, and it only listens to them and never tells them what to do. They’re not used to listening, they are only used to being listened to.

The third aspect which made this relationship flawed is the children don’t care for their parents. To Wendy and Peter, their parents were just obstacles in their way. An example of this is how the children wish for their parents to die. Peter says “I wish you were dead.” after George turns off the house and the Nursery. With this simple sentence, we can see the children lack empathy for their parents. They would rather their parents die than the Nursery die. So when the children kill their parents, it isn’t painful for them, because they are simply removing what is in their way of happiness. In this part, the author was trying to show how the children have become emotionally cold and unempathetic because they lack human interaction. The children were never taught how to be human, or care for other humans, because they spent so much time with the Nursery instead. But the indifference to people’s feelings that Wendy and Peter have is not their own fault. I think that it shows how Lydia and George failed them as parents. They weren’t present enough in their children’s lives to guide them, to teach them the ways of life. They were lazy parents and let technology do all the work for them, and then they suffered the consequences of their laziness as their children became cold and cruel. Nowadays, in the real world there are people who are also like Wendy and Peter. They spend a lot of time on devices, specifically spend a lot of time playing computer games, and aren’t used to interacting face-to-face with humans. These people weren’t taught how to consider other people's emotions and fail to have empathy towards other humans.

Technology cannot teach you a lot of things, but it cannot teach you how to love.

In the Veldt we are able to see how the parents suffer because of how they bring up their children and how Peter and Wendy are so cold and unempathetic. From this, we can learn the negative effects of being around technology at a young age and the importance of good parent-child relationships. This becomes even more important nowadays when technology is developing more and more. Although technology is a useful tool in our lives and we should make use of it, technology cannot replace human interactions, emotions, and love. 

Formal Writing 3rd - Grace Fagerland "Challenger Deep" essay

In the novel Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, an important conflict was that of Caden Bosch and the battles he faced against his mental health issues throughout the book. It follows him as he slowly starts losing his grip on the mental and physical reality around him. In a lot of media and text, it portrays people with schizophrenia and other disorders as horrible violent people, so it was great to see Challenger Deep breaking those stereotypes and taking us one step forward to normalising knowledge and conversations around it, and not glamourising or demonising it like so much media does.

This conflict was important because it showed us how much Caden’s mental illness impacted his everyday activities and hobbies. An example of this in the text is shown by the quote ‘my artwork isn’t evolving, it’s deconstructing, and I don’t know why’. Notice Neal Shusterman’s use of deconstructing in this quote which, in this example, is used as symbolism to show how just like his art, Caden feels his mind is deconstructing too. The use of this word implies that all the elements of the artwork are there, Caden just can’t figure out how to fit it all together, similar to how he feels like he’s got all the right parts in his mind, they just aren’t piecing together properly. This shows us the feeling of powerlessness Caden must be experiencing, and how difficult it is to do the things he used to love because of this. This is important because it shows us how we as a society need to be more educated on the subject of mental illnesses and disorders like Caden’s, because if no one is able to recognise these symptoms and signs, that feeling is only going to get worse and worse for those in the real world struggling with these illnesses and disorders.

As well as greatly affecting Caden’s ability to do his everyday activities, the conflict he was facing inside his own head was also impacting his interpersonal relationships and social wellbeing. For example, this was shown in the text with the quote ‘it’s like these aren’t my mother and father, just masks of my parents, and I don’t know what’s really under the mask. I know I can’t trust them’. In this example, the mask is a symbol throughout the book of how he felt alienated from the rest of society, and how the paranoia and anxiety caused by his mental illness is making him believe that everyone is out to get him. This shows us how lonely he must be feeling, thinking that the people who want to help him are the people trying to hurt him. This is important because it gives us insight into the feeling of being and outsider that people with similar illnesses and disorders to Caden go through everyday, and since the world is so uneducated on the reality of mental illness, those trying to help him have no idea what to do or where to start. With this, as well as the harmful stereotypes surrounding mental health issues that cause society to shun those struggling with them, it’s no wonder why people going through this keep their hardships and symptoms to themselves until they physically can’t any longer.

Finally, this conflict was important not to the story, but to the real world, because of the way it portrays those with these mental illnesses. There are so many harmful stereotypes surrounding people with disorders such as schizophrenia and psychosis, especially with the rise of technology and media making it so much easier to spread misinformation and lies which demonise those with these disorders and illnesses in most communities. These stereotypes are shown in Challenger Deep throughout the story, particularly this quote from Neal Shusterman- ‘dead kids get put on pedestals, but mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug’. The visual imagery in this quote paints the two parts to this statement to be quite contrasting. It shows us that the ideaology around dead kids put them in a high position, something praised, possibly admired, while mentally ill kids are shown to be put in a low position and out of sight, best left forgotten. This shows us how backwards our world’s views on mental illness are, that we would rather a kid be dead than mentally ill. It shines a well needed light on the issue of stereotypes surrounding mental health issues, an dthe hopelessness Caden is feeling at this moment, living in a society that would prefer him to be dead. This is important because it gives us as a society a wake-up call about our actions regarding mental illnesses and disorders, and how we need to better ourselves to understand the reality around them without hiding or sugarcoationg it.

In conclusion, the conflict Caden faced was important because it takes us one step further to understanding the truth about these mental illnesses, and helps us to start normalising positive conversation around this topic. The word ‘schizophrenia’ has become taboo all around the world, so it’s refreshing that Challenger Deep gave information and portrayed mental illnesses and disorders without glorifying or demonising it, just saying it as it is, as it should be.  

Formal Writing Highly Commended: Xander Gosling

Have you ever actually thought about how many things musicians do at one time? It takes a lot of practice and concentration to fully comprehend everything that goes into playing even the most simple song. Everybody should learn a musical instrument. If you learn a musical instrument it can improve brain functionality, improve mental health, and create new interests and jobs opportunities.

First playing a musical instrument can improve brain function. Just like your muscles, your brain gets stronger the more you exercise it. The process of changing the brain through our experiences is known as neural plasticity, because the brain is easily shaped, like plastic. Studies done by both www.pennmedicine.org and www.cambridgebrainsciences.com found learning a musical instrument mainly improves four areas. 1. The auditory system processes sound more effectively after musical training. People can detect smaller differences in frequency, making both speech and music easier to hear. 2. Brain areas that control instrument-related muscles and body parts (such as the fingers, the mouth, etc.) grow in size. More neurons in the brain are devoted to fine-tuning muscle movement in these areas. 3. Studies show that better musical ability is related to higher reading scores, suggesting a link between how well we hear speech and how well we can map speech sounds to letters. 4. Playing music together can enhance socio-emotional awareness, which is the ability to identify, manage, and express emotions constructively.

Second playing musical instruments gives you freedom. When you take out your musical instrument to practice you can play whatever you want. You can create any rhythm you feel and let your emotions out, it is just you and your music. The music that the lone player produces is for themselves and no one else. It is a relaxing and rewarding activity that any person living in this stress-filled world could use. Here is a quote from a very inspiring person: “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music... I cannot tell if I would have done any creative work of importance in music, but I do know that I get most joy in life out of my violin.” (Albert Einstein)

Third, it can make you more employable. Here are five ways how playing a musical instrument makes you more employable. 1. Hard work and discipline, playing an instrument teaches you that nothing just comes to you and that if you want to master a piece you have to work hard. It also teaches you how to be disciplined and work towards your goals. 2.Organization and time management, The wonderful thing here is that the better you are at organizing and optimizing your own practice sessions, the more you are training these valuable skills that most employers what to see. 3.Teamwork, If you have played in, bands, chamber music groups, or even just duets with your teacher then you have (with or without knowing it) learnt some valuable teamwork skills. You have learnt to listen to others, play along with them and be sensitive to what they are doing. 4 Creative problem-solving, when you practise an instrument you spend many hours repeating it and now, tired that it is not getting better you are finally taking a moment to think about what could be going wrong. Then you do something that is so often asked for in the working world, you creatively solve the problem. 5. Working under pressure, exams are here? You have a concert or audition around the corner? Or maybe your teacher just scares you? (I know the feeling!). Well, when practising music you are busy training your skill to work and perform under pressure. It feels terrible now, but as this skill improves you will see how it spills over into other aspects of your life. After a few concerts, you can suddenly make that speech at your dads 50th without losing your cool. Before you know it you’re sitting in that nerve-wracking job interview, on top of your game. This is an unusual but very real perk of learning an instrument.

Everyone should learn a musical instrument. If you do it can improve brain function, it gives you freedom, and it can make you more employable. So learning a musical instrument is extremely beneficial to you and your future. So next time you sit down to watch tv pick up the guitar, piano, violin and learn to play it instead.