What Are the Odds? Anonymous

In a world where odds often dictate outcomes, consider the curious case of a piano and its player: 88 keys versus 10 fingers. In almost any other scenario, such odds would be laughable – imagine a soccer team fielding 88 players against 10, or a chess game with 88 pieces on one side. But in the musical universe, these daunting odds are precisely fixed for piano players.

This essay is not about my journey to becoming a master piano player, because I am not. In fact, though it was over 12 years ago, I remember clearly the day I failed to achieve a basic rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” during an hour-long lesson and proclaimed to my parents that I would be ceasing all playing immediately and permanently. However, as I look to the person I hope to be in my college career, I reflect on the times that I did not learn enough from my failures.

During my middle school years, there was a mandatory science fair for the seventh grade. I, armed with enthusiasm but lacking in experience, set out to create a homemade battery using lemons, wires, and zinc nails, envisioning a display of electric wonder. Predictably, the result was far less electrifying. My makeshift battery barely powered a small light bulb, which dimly flickered among...