I'm Zara, and my career aspiration is to become a full-time professional Singer, Songwriter and Musician, and to be fully ready for this career choice by the time I reach eighteen years old.
Ideally, I want to be hugely successful and become an international superstar! However, if all I can achieve is a reasonable salary without having to supplement my income with a "normal job," then I will still consider this career choice a success.
That said, who knows what my future holds... "all I can do is work hard and try to enjoy the journey"!
What am I doing now?
Now sixteen, the best way that I can describe my current situation is that I am being "Home Colleged" (a follow on from being "Home Schooled" for the past two years). As part of this intensive two year bespoke music course, I want to include as much work experience as possible e.g. as many live performances as I can manage. Some of these performances will be unpaid e.g. Open Mic events, but I also hope to attract as many paid bookings as possible too (the paid bookings will provide me with more "real-world" work experiences).
Note: with regard to "paid bookings," I am not expecting paying clients to financially subsidise my musical education (my parents fund this). Therefore, until I am ready to become a 'full-time' professional singer and musician, I will only accept paid work where I'm absolutely sure that I can provide an entertainment experience that is equal to, or better than, similarly priced but more experienced competitors. In reality, any money that I earn over the next year or two will just help to cover the many additional costs associated with undertaking live performances.
What else do I like doing?
Best of all, I like to get out and socialise with my friends (Cinema, Parties, Sea Scouts, Camping, Going to the Beach, etc.
I have some creative hobbies e.g. Jewellery making and Sewing (I love making my own necklaces, bracelets, earrings, clothes, bags, etc.), and I also like to draw and paint.
I also have some active hobbies e.g. Dinghy Sailing, Canoeing, Skateboarding, Hill Walking, Swimming, and I recently joined a Gym.
Note: playing instruments and recording means that I spend a lot of time sat on my bum, so I do need plenty of healthier exercise options!
Why a career in music?
This aspiration is not a youthful and unrealistic "pipe dream," it's more of a natural progression from when I started having piano lessons when I was just six year old. From the outset, I really enjoyed learning how to play the piano, and I also enjoyed listening to, and playing, music. Because I enjoyed this so much, I have never found practising a chore and consequently, my playing abilities incrementally improved over time.
I then got some opportunities to play live, and this is when I discovered that I love doing "live performances" (as a relatively shy person this was quite a revelation, and probably the true genesis of my current musical aspirations).
However, choosing music for a career was not easy, largely because schools are totally preoccupied with pupils obtaining a shed load of GCSE's. This meant that there was an ever increasing amount of evening and weekend homework, and this time commitment severely interfered with my ability to practice music. So, once I had determined that music was my true vocational interest something had to change, and this led to the decision to leave school and become "Home Educated".
Note: There were other reasons why I could not truly thrive within the standard school system, but in reality these other reasons just made the decision to leave school slightly easier, rather than being the determining factors.
So, that's where I'm at now, and I'm very much looking forward to having much more to add as my journey continues.
