Scholarship Essay

 My name is Amulya Kuntamukkala and I’m a 5th grader at Barksdale Elementary in Plano, Texas. Ever since I learnt about nursery rhymes that my mom used to play for me, I was fascinated by the pleasant sound of music and Piano. I found a way to express myself and my feelings through music as I love to create my own music compositions. At times, I found myself singing in the shower and my parents proposed I should sharpen my skills and take voice lessons. 

Classical songs are my favorites to play! Sometimes, I like to do a few tricks like playing a nursery rhyme with my hands on it backward or putting my head on the bench and my hands on the Piano which my teacher Ms.Jamie finds very amusing. Piano training has helped me in reading music proficiently. I am taking choir as an elective in middle school to help me read more complex music and improve my voice. The theory tests have made it easier to understand the world of Piano. I was thrilled to win first prize in the Reflections competition for my original Piano composition at my school level and honorary mention at the district level.I have participated in numerous recitals that have built my confidence, even though I still have butterflies every time! It’s all because of my outstanding music teacher, Ms. Jamie and Edelweiss School of Music. They encourage me and push me to do my very best.

Almost five years ago, I was blessed to have a younger sister. I realized I love to tell her stories and bore her with my voice overs. I started my blog where I publish short fiction stories about made up characters and narrate them over my podcast (10 episodes with ~600 downloads). I recently started taking voice over artist lessons with Mr. Mike. 

Outside of music and artistic pursuits, I have keen interest in STEM curriculum and I’m happy to share that I qualified for the gifted and talented program in Plano ISD. In order to hone my leadership skills, I volunteer to represent my fellow students in the Student Council and be a voice for them in meetings. I helped organize a cereal box drive by making flyers and counting boxes. I contributed to raise ~1500 cereal boxes for North Texas Food Bank program and found that experience very gratifying to serve food insecure households.

I thank you for this opportunity to apply for the Dr. Olteanu Grant for Gifted Children scholarship grant. My parents and teachers have taught me not to take pride in my area of giftedness but only in my choices. So, if I were to be awarded this coveted scholarship award, I will double down on my Piano and Vocal lessons at Edelweiss School of Music. This will help open new doors for me to hone my skills and bring joy to this world through my artistic contributions. I will donate 10% of this award to buy books and training material for my fellow brilliant and talented students of Edelweiss School of Music.