It is honestly truly heartbreaking to hear that this program will not be offered to the youth of the Trenton public school the same way that it was offered to me and my peers. As we all know the music programs in the Trenton public school systems do not receive the same amount of funding and attention that many of the other programs do. The arts are a dying culture among the youth, which is quite unfortunate because music, art, and dance have been amazing outlets for allowing these youths to express themselves in ways that perhaps they would not have thought of before. My time at Princeton was actually quite amazing. The growth of my love for music and the violin skyrocketed over the years that I spent practicing and playing with the TAP group, when I first joined it was known was TYO (Trenton Youth Orchestra) and it later evolved into TAP (Trenton Arts at Princeton) as they decided to add some of the other disciplines such as choir, dance, and theater. Seeing all the kids line up outside the Trenton public schools as they awaited the Princeton bus was always exciting for me. I love music and more importantly making music with others. I would never have grown so much on the violin if I was not offered free private lessons by this program, which I believed to be an absolute blessing. We all know that not everybody can afford private lessons, especially Trenton youth, which consists of mainly children that come from low income households such as myself being from an immigrant family. I am truly saddened to see that some of the kids have had to say goodbye to this program and many from the future generations will not experience what we had. I hope there is a change to this some day. However until then, TAP remains in the hearts of those who were so fortunate enough to be a part of it. Thank you Lou Chen for allowing me to be a part of this experiences and for watching me grow up. And thank you to my private teacher Warren who gave me many inspiring conversations and even more fun memories.
It is honestly truly heartbreaking to hear that this program will not be offered to the youth of the Trenton public school the same way that it was offered to me and my peers. As we all know the music programs in the Trenton public school systems do not receive the same amount of funding and attention that many of the other programs do. The arts are a dying culture among the youth, which is quite unfortunate because music, art, and dance have been amazing outlets for allowing these youths to express themselves in ways that perhaps they would not have thought of before. My time at Princeton was actually quite amazing. The growth of my love for music and the violin skyrocketed over the years that I spent practicing and playing with the TAP group, when I first joined it was known was TYO (Trenton Youth Orchestra) and it later evolved into TAP (Trenton Arts at Princeton) as they decided to add some of the other disciplines such as choir, dance, and theater. Seeing all the kids line up outside the Trenton public schools as they awaited the Princeton bus was always exciting for me. I love music and more importantly making music with others. I would never have grown so much on the violin if I was not offered free private lessons by this program, which I believed to be an absolute blessing. We all know that not everybody can afford private lessons, especially Trenton youth, which consists of mainly children that come from low income households such as myself being from an immigrant family. I am truly saddened to see that some of the kids have had to say goodbye to this program and many from the future generations will not experience what we had. I hope there is a change to this some day. However until then, TAP remains in the hearts of those who were so fortunate enough to be a part of it. Thank you Lou Chen for allowing me to be a part of this experiences and for watching me grow up. And thank you to my private teacher Warren who gave me many inspiring conversations and even more fun memories.