February 27, 2015

Autobiography

Jacinta

The Music in Me
On June 6, 2000 I came into the world using my powerful voice to let the
world know I had arrived. I was a few weeks early so I came as a bit of a
surprise and caused a bit of trouble which ended up in me being put in an
incubator. Even though my first few moments of life I was crying at the top of
my little lungs, throughout the next few years I quieted down considerably.
However even though I was quiet that didnt keep me out of trouble. But
little did I or my parents know that one day I would find a better use for that
powerful voice of mine. One that didnt involve screaming, but instead
something a lot nicer on the ears.
This story starts a few years before June 6, 2000. It all began at the
Hamiota Co-op when a young Jody Allan caught the attention of Neil Doupe.
Lucky for him they were both invited to a progressive party in 1995 and fate
gave him a chance. A chance that he took and ended up going quite well for
him. Later on they got married in the beautiful yard of the Doupe family farm
on the warm sunny day of July 18, 1999. A few years later they made a
decision that would change their lives forever. They decided to have me.
Even at a young age I was interested in music, I just didnt realize thats
what was happening. I had a toy that was like a keyboard and I always would
play tunes on it throughout the day and most of my favourite shows involved
singing. I was an only child and I live in an absolutely tiny town called
Crandall that has about 15 people in it so I spent a lot of time by myself or
with my parents. This gave me the chances to watch many musicals and play

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Autobiography

Jacinta

with my music oriented toys like the mini keyboard. Although I did have the
family dog Shelby and our two cats Mister and Cleo. At the age of 1 I started
going to daycare where I made my first friends who ended up being all boys.
One of my earliest memories is performing plays in the backyard of the
daycare and I would always play the princess who needed saving. I thought I
was quite the little actress. Eventually that daycare closed and I had to move
on to a new daycare called The Kids Club. There I met more friends and
made more memories, most of them involved playing spy or house. It was
also the place I met my first friend that was a girl, who I am still good friends
with today. Her name is Chantelle. Another sign of my musical talent showed
when I decided to take ballet lessons at the Heritage Arts Center at the age
of 3. Later on I started doing other dances like tap and jazz from Mrs. Lois
and became part of The Core Four which consisted of Ashlyn, Emily,
MacKenzie and I. In 2009 we got a new dance teacher who taught us hip hop
and then in 2012 I started doing lyrical. Currently I am dancing for my 11th
year in a row. When I started going to preschool in 2004 I made more new
friends, ones that I am still friends with presently. At our graduation of
preschool my musical abilities shone through again when my friend Chantelle
and I decided that it would be a fun idea to sing Im a Little Teacup at the
top of our lungs while we waited for the ceremony to begin. The beginning of
elementary school was a scary yet exciting time for me. I learned how to
colour and write and I remember Mrs. Rawlings would bring out her guitar
and she would sing us songs when we were learning the alphabet. Each

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Autobiography

Jacinta

letter had a special name and its own little song. Once again I was involved
with music. 2006 in grade 1 was a very important year for me because that
was the year that I finally realized that I was interested in music. It was a
normal day and we were sitting in our music class with Mrs. McNabb and she
gave me a compliment on my singing and it inspired me to try harder in
music class. Eventually I decided to start taking singing lessons from Mrs.
Brown. That led to me singing my first solo ever. I sang a song about a dog
and giving him cookies like the cute little 6 year old I was. I dont remember
it very well but I must have liked it because I have continued to sing solos in
the Birdtail River Festival for 8 years. A few tragic events happened that year
as well. My Grandpa Cal and our family dog Shelby passed away, it was the
first time anything really sad and dramatic had happened to me so it was
difficult dealing with it but I managed to continue on. However, a very happy
event happened in my life as well. We took our first far away trip as a family
to Disney world. Since then we have returned there in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
2006 was also the year that I joined dramarama, which is a day camp in
Strathclair that includes dancing, singing and acting. Shortly after I started
taking singing lessons by myself, Mrs. Brown decided to make a choir for all
the young kids who were interested and we went and performed in several
places like at the united church. After about a year of doing that our choir
ended and I was back to just singing solos. As the years went on I got more
confident with my singing and eventually I decided I wanted to explore my
musical talent further. In the basement of our house there was a piano. This

February 27, 2015

Autobiography

Jacinta

piano happened to have belonged to my great grandmother once upon a

time. It has continued to stay in our basement up until the present.
Whenever I was looking for something to do I would go sit at the piano and
make up songs. Granted none of them were even remotely good but it was a
start. In 2007 we got a new addition to our family, my dog Maggie. Maggie is
my oldest dog at the present and she has played a big part in my life. At the
age of 8 my parents found a piano teacher on the outskirts of Rivers and we
decided to go there and see what I thought of it. I immediately knew that I
wanted to continue learning how to play the piano and this teacher offered to
teach me vocal lessons as well. We made the decision to take her up on the
offer. It was my first time not singing religious or classical pieces and I was
very excited to do something different. As we continued my love for singing
grew more and more. Music slowly became one of the biggest parts of my
life. One day my teacher recommended that I audition for a small part in the
Strathclair drama club. Although I was nervous to audition I really wanted the
part. I had to memorize the lyrics to Oh Canada and when it came time to
audition I had no idea what to expect. Turns out that there were tons of other
young kids auditioning for small parts and we all auditioned at the same
time. In the middle of school one day my mum came and gave me the
exciting news that I had got a part. Even though I didnt have any lines it was
very fun and I made many new friends. Although for the part I had to dye my
hair black which was interesting to say the least and it didnt come out until
years after. My music teacher had been involved with the Strathclair Drama

February 27, 2015

Autobiography

Jacinta

club and she thought it would have been a great experience for me and she
was very right! On a bitter cold day in December 2009, my grandpa passed
away from cancer and it was devastating because he was very close to me
and was one of the biggest contributors to my childhood. I still miss him a lot
to this very day and I have kept a large photograph in my room of him for
years and I dont plan on ever taking it down. When I was going through that
rough time music helped me a lot and it continues to help me in the present
whenever I am feeling sad. Music slowly became one of the biggest parts of
my life. Although my life wasnt as revolved around sports as it was music
they were still very important to me. Especially soccer, and in 2010 we won a
gold medal in our Brandon tournament and it was my first ever gold medal
so it was a very proud moment. Other than soccer my life didnt contain
much other than music. Eventually my teacher moved so I had to continue
on to find someone else to teach me. We found my second teacher in
Brandon and she was one of the bubbliest and nicest people I have ever met.
Every lesson with her was fun and I always looked forward to it. She helped
me grow out of my little girl singing voice and into my stronger adult
voice. She also let me do a Harry Potter song for one of my piano pieces so
that earned her big points in my books. Around a few months before
Christmas time during 2010 when we were in grade 5 we were beginning to
prepare for our Christmas concert. Being the grade 5s we got to be the leads
in the play and there was a part in the play that required a singing solo. I of
course wanted the part and ended up getting it. However my voice wasnt

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Autobiography

Jacinta

quite strong enough to hit the high notes well so my music teacher came to
my rescue and taught me how to belt out the notes. This was around the
time that I really started to explore how strong my voice was and I started
getting more awards in festival. In 2011 it was time for the big move up to
the high school. This involved a new school music teacher named Mr.
Dowden. We werent old enough to take band so we took choir instead. At
one of our concerts I was given a solo because I knew a verse of the song we
were singing in German. My personal music teacher loved to get me to sing
in different languages and even tried to convince me to sing opera. I will
admit I was not very happy with that idea. It was a few years after I had done
my first Strathclair Drama Club production and I wanted to do it again
because some of my friends from the first production were doing it again. I
have continued to be a part of the Strathclair Drama club every year until
the present. During grade 6 both of my cats passed away which was very
tragic for me. However it caused us to go and buy two new dogs named Mini
and Ozzy. Another new thing for me that year was having to take an exam
and I was absolutely terrified for it. I tend to stress quite a bit over smaller
tests so an exam was very stressful. Compared to now though, I had nothing
to worry about. The passing away of my cats wasnt the only sad thing I had
to endure that year. At the end of grade 6 my family and I decided that going
back and forth to Brandon all the time for music lessons became to tiresome
and I had to find a teacher that lived closer to Hamiota. I was devastated
because she meant a lot to me and still does. However that was also a good

February 27, 2015

Autobiography

Jacinta

year because I became best friends with my two current best friends, Brenna
and Jessica. We made many good memories that summer but eventually it
was time to go back to school and time to find a new music teacher. After
grade 6 Mr. Dowden left the high school to move onto other things which
involved teaching private music lessons. He lived right beside my grandma
at the time so it was easy to get a hold of him before he moved. At the start
of grade 7 I started taking private music lessons with him. He encouraged
me to apply for a scholarship to the International Music Camp at the Peace
Gardens. Taking a chance I decided to apply and I ended up getting the
scholarship. It was a very exciting time for me because I hadnt ever gone to
a camp that far away before. I chose to go for the Acapella Choir session and
it was an amazing experience. I had never been challenged too much with
my singing before and having to sing acapella and having to harmonize with
other parts! Definitely one of the hardest things Ive ever had to do with my
singing. I also met some very good friends there, they understood my love
for music which was great and I still keep in touch with them often. Another
thing he pushed me to do was to take my grade 1 piano exam which was
very scary. It was taken at the Brandon University and it was probably one of
the scariest moments of my life. In the end I passes with flying colours much
to my relief. During grade 8 I joined another choir, but this one was local. It
was the Strathclair Theatre Chorus, and it was another good experience but I
found it to be a little bit too much so I did not continue the next year. Also
during grade 8 another tragic event in my life happened. On January 23,

February 27, 2015

Autobiography

Jacinta

2014 my dog Ozzy got run over. It came as a complete shock and it was a
truly horrible time. It took a while for me to get used to not having him
around and the first few days without him were full of tears. However, with
the help of music and my friends and family I was able to recover enough to
do well on my exams. After our school exams came taking our level 3 tap
exam. It wasnt as scary as the piano since we were in a group and it wasnt
just me but it wasnt exactly a walk in the park. Thankfully we all passed!
Near the end of the school year we decided that it was time to get a new dog
and we bought our dog Indie. Indie was named after Indiana Jones because
my mum and I both like those movies and we both liked that name. Although
our Indie is nothing like Indiana Jones, he is a complete coward. At the end of
the school year our middle years girls soccer team won the A side banner
which was a great accomplishment for us. The summer after grade 8 I
returned to IMC again and enjoyed myself a lot more than the first time
because I wasnt as homesick and it was easier singing acapella. That
summer was also when I completed all of the swimming lesson levels and
completed the bronze medallion course. I am aiming to someday be a
lifeguard and to teach little kids how to swim. Once again I took a piano
exam, but this time it was level two. I was a lot more prepared for it than I
was for the first one and I got a higher mark which was a big relief. This year
was the first year of high school which was a little bit nerve wracking.
However it wasnt as scary as moving up to the high school in grade 6. I
wasnt too nervous to be starting Varsity soccer but it was definitely different

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Autobiography

Jacinta

from middle years, which I think is good for us because it gives us a lot
bigger challenge. Something I did find quite scary was Junior Varsity
Volleyball, I knew it would be completely different than we were used to and
that made me nervous. Overall even though we definitely werent the best
team, we still made lots of improvements compared to middle years. Next
after that came high school exams. Even though there were only two exams,
they were still a lot harder than the middle years ones had been. I dont even
want to imagine what the four exams at the end of this year are going to be
like. At the present I just got back not too long ago from my fourth trip to
Orlando, Florida. We just finished our dance festival and got gold for our hip
hop dance which made me so happy I almost cried. The other day I handed
in my resume for what I hope will be my first job ever, Im really excited and I
hope I get the job. Now I am getting ready for the upcoming festivals for
what seems like the millionth time. No matter how many times I do it though,
I still get very nervous before going onstage.
Music has always been a big part of my life and my grandma always
tells me to hold onto my talent because it will stay with me forever. Someday
I hope to find a career that involves music so I can share my knowledge with
others and possibly help someone else find their passion for music just like I
did. I am already planning on expanding my musical experiences by
auditioning for Westman Youth Choir at the end of this year. Hopefully I will
always continue to perform until I physically cant. Then when I grow too old I

February 27, 2015

Autobiography

Jacinta

hope my kids will have developed the passion for music I have so that the
music in me can live on forever.

To Be Continued.