Music and Constant Pressure by Santos

Music and Constant Pressure by Santos - August 2026 Scholarship Essay

Do you ever keep messing up? How about making mistakes? Do we bounce back from them? Music might be one of the fields where making mistakes will shape you into a professional. "Bouncing back" from mistakes when learning or playing music can lead to success more than when you "mess up" at things like a construction site or office job.
For me specifically, making mistakes while learning music led to feedback, whether that be from another musician or a teacher. This feedback is what caused me to practice over and over and over again. Phrases were told to me, such as "You're flat" or "That's the wrong rhythm." This isn't just criticism. It was constructive, something to help me get better. These statements fixed my mistakes. Yes, I was wrong; I sounded bad, I wouldn't score well at music competitions, the music was hard, I had to really try. This feedback didn't mean my music practice was over. Not that I'd ever stop practicing. But it was exactly that. These criticisms pushed me harder to keep going. I practiced more, practiced on my own, practiced longer. It is hurtful to hear "you played this wrong" or "You didn't learn it" or "that doesn't sound the way it's supposed to"; therefore, anytime I would receive criticism, on a technical level for my musical skills, I would remain resilient so that I'd never have to hear it again.
That is the reason feedback isn't necessarily a bad thing. For me, and probably many other students my age, feedback has been the reason we grow, we change, we develop into a force that is not one to be reckoned with. Feedback turns people into "academic weapons," logical thinkers, and creative minds. Feedback forces people to "lock in" and "do better," which changes things. Going back to music, you don't get the biggest names in rock & roll without hours and hours of practice a day. Those people were so hard on themselves, "personal feedback," if you will, that once they got on tour and performed for hundreds and hundreds of people, success was the immediate reaction from the public, and record labels, and concert venues, and news media.
One of the most prominent effects of feedback, whether that be positive or negative, is change. You see it everywhere: the need to accommodate feedback. Social media influencers and musicians use hate comments to fuel their creativity. Feedback will always be there. Someone can even give me feedback on this essay. The point is, is that feedback leads to growth; no matter what field you're in or what study program, there will always be something critiquing your work. The most important thing for me to remember is that there is nothing wrong with feedback, and it doesn't define you. How can you be someone if there's nothing to build from?