Many people may know Elena Elliot as the goofy girl in the hallway or during class, but what most people don’t know about her is that she has been playing the piano for six years. Elena began playing piano in the fifth grade when her mom decided that she wasn’t “well-rounded” enough.

First, she was sent off to ballet.“I’m not the most graceful person in the world”, said Elena. “And everything about ballet, from the music to the dance moms, it just wasn’t my thing. Not to mention, my allergic reactions to the tights.” So, Elena’s mom signed her up for piano lessons. After about four years of dreading piano lessons, something happened that made Elena enjoy tickling the ivories.

“I was getting piano lessons from the same guy for about four years. He was snobby and all he always forced classical music on me, the one kind of music I didn’t want to play. I hated it.” Elena continued, “So my little cousin, who is like my ‘mini-me’ started taking piano lessons because she does everything I do. I met her teacher and set up a date to see if I liked the way she taught piano. After about 45-minutes, I absolutely loved her and the way she taught piano. To this day I can give her all the credit to why I love piano.”

With her new piano teacher, Elena is now able to play what ever she wants. From country to pop music, there are no more restrictions on what she can and cannot play. “I’ve learned to actually like to play classical music because it is not forced onto me, I can choose which songs I like and my teacher never disagrees or questions my choice in music.”

Elena plans on playing the piano for as long as she possibly can, and she wants to continue have music be apart of her life.