By: Kirby Tello
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Meet Noah Avelar. He’s the percussion section leader and 11thbrgrader at Veteran Memorial High School who just won one of the most excitingbrand honorable awards young creatives only dreams of receiving. Every biennium,brYoung Masters, in partnership with the Texas Cultural Trust and TexasbrCommission on the Arts, recognizes 8-11th graders for excelling inbrmusic, theater, dance, visual arts, and literary arts by awarding some ofbrTexas’ brightest young artists with scholarships of $10,000 over two years tobrenhance and build professional artistic study. Seeing as though only fifteenbrout of 300 applicants are awarded a scholarship, it goes without saying thatbrNoah Avelar is a musical force to be reckoned with.
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Noah found out about the Young Masters Scholarship just one weekbrbefore the deadline. His band director causally mentioned the scholarship tobrhim and suggested he apply. He wasn’t familiar with the scholarship andbrorganization initially, but he decided to take a chance, apply, and hope forbrthe best. And boy did it pay off.
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What is so inspiring about Noah’s story is that he views this majorbraccolade as something bigger than just himself. An aspiring educator, Noahbrunderstands that this opportunity will benefit his future students by allowingbrhim to pass on the knowledge and experiences he will obtain on this journey.
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In talking with Noah, taking a chance seems to be somewhat of abrmantra for him. When reflecting on how winning this scholarship impacts thebrCoastal Bend community he explained that putting yourself out there with abrwillingness to work hard while fighting the urge to get discouraged, others toobrcan achieve monumental goals just like he did.
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Supporting the arts, he feels, is so important because artsbreducation unleashes a passion and a purpose that might otherwise be stifledbrwithout a creative outlet. He believes that music develops creativity and canbrhelp to hone other skills and motivation in various aspects of life. In a truebrhumble artist’s form, Noah believes there are so many talented students in thebrcommunity that could have easily won the award as well based on theirbrextraordinary talent. He is most honored to not only consider himself a part ofbrsuch a gifted bunch but to also have the passion to take part in enriching thebrlocal community through music.
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