Scrollworks: an essay by Claudia Duran

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."
Why do I believe in Scrollworks? Why is Scrollworks important to me? These are questions I can't answer in one sentence. It's pretty hard to explain how I became obsessed with Scrollworks, why I constantly want to get on Facebook just to check if Mrs. Goforth posted pircutres of that Friday or Saturday. I really can't explain why I sleep so late and wake up so early just to finish music theory worksheets for Scrollworks or why I spend hours drawing fliers to be put up on Saturdays. I honestly don't know where to start.
I joined Scrollworks about a year ago. I was at the mall with my younger brother, Steve, looking for a toy he saw on television. I swear, there isn't a toy on TV that he doesn't want! He was inside KB Toys when I decided to sit outside the store on an armchair. I looked to my right and saw a newspaper article that read, "Free Music Lessons." I wasn't taking any violin lessons from anyone at that time, so I picked up the article. After reading it, I jotted down the number and called Mrs. Goforth. A week after calling her, I decided to walk to Cave9 and when I got there, I was too shy to walk in, so I ended up walking back home. A couple of weeks later, I finally got the nerve to just walk inside, when I did I was greeted with a lot of smiles and I met my then violin instructor, Mr. Lacanski.
After that day, I began going to scrollworks every Friday and Saturday. I enjoyed walking in and getting a brownie or two and then waiting for Nick to be ready. And then after my lesson, I would just walk back home. A month or two later, when the all the violin teachers were busy, I was told to teach a kid beginners violin. I was really elated when I got the news because I have never taught anyone before and it was a new experience for me. I still remember how it went and it always gets me smiling. Well first of all, I was very confused, but I enjoyed it so much!
I honestly believe that it wasn't until December of last year that I really began to, I guess you can say, "fall" for scrollworks. Scrollworks moved to GreenCup Books, even though I was sad that we were leaving 5 points South, I was also really excited because I felt like I was part of the Scrollworks Family. That was half a year ago and my commitment and love for Scrollworks has centupled! I have never cared so much for anything, ever! I think about Scrollworks 24/7. I have to admit that every night before I fall asleep, I think of ways I can help. I think of fundraiser ideas and what I can bake and then sell. I'm always finding excuses to do anything related to Scrollworks.
My life has seriously turned around because of Scrollworks. I began taking lessons on the violin when I was eight and I enjoyed them, but I have always liked drawing best. When I was in 5th grade, I already had my entire future planned out. I was going to start to my portfolio before my junior year of high school, I was going to go to CalArts and then graduate from there and my career would be as an animator. And then I would adopt and die years later. But lately, I'm having second thoughts of what I want to do now. I am 100% positive that I want to stay with Scrollworks for as long as I can, even if that means having to stay here in Birmingham and having to change plans I've had for years. I don't want to leave Scrollworks, I enjoy it so much, it's so weird!
I swear Scrollworks is so important to me, I get this rush every Saturday morning because I know I'll be spending the next four hours doing something I love. I'll be around awesome people and I'll learn a lot new things. It would be really devasting if something happen that would prevent Mrs. Goforth and Jimmy from doing the amazing things they do everyday. I won't have anything to look foward to on Friday nights and most importantly, I won't have anything I can dedicate my time and love to.
So in conclusion, Scrollworks is really important to me because I have learned so many things just by going on Fridays and Saturdays. I learned that it's always best to think of others before yourself. I have also learned that music is just amazing! Learning and playing is just wonderful. But the most important thing that I learned from scrollworks is that if there is anything you can do to help anyone, you should always do it! Because in the end, you will always have a huge feeling of satisfaction that neither nothing nor no one can take away from you.




















