Tracy Ellett

My Baby Sister

I admire my baby sister Tracy because at the age of 11, she started to pursue her lifelong dream of being a singer with conviction. It takes a lot of determination to start following your dream at such a young age. Most teenagers switch their dreams by the time they enter high school, but not Tracy. Here she is five years later and she is still singing her heart out.

At a young age, Tracy was inspired by our dad, Everett Elett, to be a singer. He is a guitarist and wonderful vocalist. Tracy said that our dad is the reason for her passion to sing. He used to play guitar at birthday parties and family gatherings. It was at Tracy’s birthday where she decided to get involved with singing. Our dad was strumming on the guitar and she was singing “Happy Birthday” along with him. It was a good time, full of laughter and dancing. Out of four children, she is the only one who can carry a note and has followed her dream.

In the sixth grade was when she started to pursue her musical career. It was a Monday at school when she heard that there would be auditions for chorus, she decided to go. Tracy’s hands were clammy and her voice was hoarse. She was panicking because she needed her voice to sing. It was now her turn to go. She took a breath and stepped out from the curtain and faced her teachers. They were going to be her judges. “Tracy, are you ready?” came from a deep voice of a man that she stood before. “Yes,” she said in a soft voice. “Okay begin when ready.” With a deep breath she began to sing Hallelujah. Tracy sang like there was no tomorrow and managed to win the hearts of the judges. They were blown away. An hour passed and Tray checked the names that on the list with students who were accepted outside the office door. First name at the top of the list was Tracy Ellett!

Over the years Tracy has been dedicated to her singing. She is now a junior in high school and still works hard at what she does. Every day the last hour and a half, she is in the auditorium with thirty other classmates. Practice, practice, and more practice. She learns different songs and keys to make her voice strong and improve on any areas that need improvement. Her chorus teacher picked her to be in the musical, Oklahoma. It took them three and a half months to prepare for it. Tracy was one of the townspeople that had to do a lot of dancing and singing. This was just one of the many ways she is preparing for her big dream. She is trying her hardest to have experience in both singing and dancing. Her dream is to enroll in Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Juilliard is one of the world’s most prestigious performing arts schools around. Her hard work and dedication will help her achieve this wonderful dream of hers.

It was about four years ago where Tracy didn’t win the singing competition, but she never gave up. She has been in chorus for years. Today, she travels to different schools and competes. One competition was held in Chester, Illinois where she placed first in the first category consisting of best vocalist and the last category which was most original where she didn’t place at all. Unfortunately, that was the one she wanted to place high in. If she would have placed higher, she would have gone to the competition at state. I felt so bad for her. I didn’t know what to say. At the time she was thirteen years old, and she looked at me and said, “I may not have placed at all but it wasn’t my time. God had another girl that deserved it.” She took that as a lesson. She worked to the best of her ability for the next year until it was time for another competition.

One year later we were at the same place, same room, and same exact teacher. I could feel the uneasiness in her face. I told her she would do fine and just think of it as if it was just me and her in the room. There she started, with the voice of an angel as she sang, “Amazing Grace”. When I looked around not only was I in tears but so was the entire room. She melted their hearts with her voice. The instructor stopped at the end of the song, and said, “I remember you from last year, and my, you have improved. You make me think I should have picked you in the first place!” Tracy was ecstatic! I was so happy for her. She ended up placing first and going to state where she placed second. I learned from my baby sister not to give up on my dream but to pursue it. If you fall off the horse, get back on and try again. That is what she did. She is the type of person that you look up to and would follow to be successful in life.

Never in a million years, would I imagine that I would admire someone who was four years younger than me. Well I do, and I call her my sister. She has been pursuing her dream to become a singer for five years now and is still going strong. I hope that she continues to be successful in her musical career and ends up in the college of her dreams, Juilliard.