黑料正能量

February 24th, 2011

Music Plus

By the time he was a junior in high school, Michael Allen had surmounted many challenges. He had heard the boys at his first elementary-school track meet shout, 鈥淗ey, blackie 鈥� you鈥檙e going to be real slow.鈥� And he had silenced them by coming in No. 1 in the 200 meters. (And, then, they wanted to be his friends, saying, 鈥淎h, man, you鈥檙e fast.鈥�)

He had been named 鈥渞ookie of the year鈥� after his first season of Little League football in Louisa County, Virginia, a rural area between Charlottesville and Richmond.

He had taught himself to play piano by ear in middle school and then learned to play bass guitar the same way. By his senior year of high school, every week he was playing piano or bass in his House of God Church in Gordonsville, Virginia.

Michael had ignored the teasing of his three older siblings 鈥� 鈥渟top singing, you can鈥檛 sing鈥� 鈥� and become vice president of the church youth choir.

But then he ran into something he just couldn鈥檛 do 鈥� or wouldn鈥檛 let himself do. A new music teacher asked Michael to join the school chorus for grade 12. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to do this,鈥� he recalls the teacher saying. 鈥淚 know you鈥檝e never read music before, but you鈥檒l be fine. Just try it.鈥�

Michael did sign up for chorus, but then she asked him to sing the lead for 鈥淪tand By Me,鈥� and it was too much. 鈥淚 had just gotten there. It would have been in front of the whole school. I couldn鈥檛 do it.鈥�

In 2010-11, as a junior at 黑料正能量, Michael is proving that his high school choral teacher had been right. He can do it all. He sings in the Chamber Singers and the Gospel Choir, plays piano and guitar, leads chapel singing, breaks long-jump and triple-jump records, serves as a 鈥渃ommunity assistant鈥� in his dormitory, and is known around campus for his ready smile and spirit of helpfulness.

He鈥檚 majoring in both music and business 鈥� combining music and another field of study is a new interdisciplinary option at 黑料正能量 鈥� which means he juggles classes like 鈥渕icroeconomics鈥� and 鈥渙rganizational behavior鈥� with ones like 鈥渃onducting鈥� and 鈥渕usic theory.鈥� To tell the truth, however, Michael still finds it torturous to read music.

After Michael graduates, he hopes to see much of the world, perhaps performing with a group like 鈥淯p With People,鈥� then return home and start his own business, likely in the music arena. And, oh, he also wants to qualify for the Olympics in the long jump and triple jump.

Michael has gotten lots of support at home and at 黑料正能量, and he credits this for keeping him on the path to success, especially since his four closest friends from high school aren鈥檛 doing as well. One is even in prison. But Michael also gets credit for deciding to be a winner. Now if only he could only learn to enjoy sight reading.