christmas in iraq

I was sitting in band one day, and mr evans was like...I have something for you. it was a letter from the marines and they were like...we are having a solo competition and the winner gets to go to iraq and play for the troops over there on christmas. So i figured why not, so i picked out the arrangement of "o holy night' that mr currie wrote me and I worked it up and I recorded it and I sent it in to the marines. a week later they wrote me back and said that i was a finalist in the competition and that they were going to fly me to washington dc so that i could compete live in front of the white house with all the other finalists. 2 weeks later i was in washington dc living it up! and the day of the competition came and i played and felt really good about it and was nervous all day because they didnt anounce the winner until the next day. the next day i woke up and i was like...even more nervous. we went to the anouncing ceremony and listened and waited anxiously for the results....2nd runner up...amber garduno!!!!....1st runner up...adrianna crestopolous!!!...and the first place winner and the person that is going to iraq on christmas to play for the troops is...ESTEBAN GARCIA!!!! yay me! i worked really hard and reached my goal. the next week i got on a private jet plane to iraq and got to play for the troops on christmas eve and christmas day. it was really fun and it was a once in a lifetime chance. i loved it.