By Jordan Bickham
Staff Writer

It is 11 p.m. when sophomore Brady Knippa sits down to begin his homework.  After having band rehearsals and a drum jam session, Knippa finally has time to focus on his schoolwork.

Being in the band at the high school and a drummer outside of school, Knippa has little time for much else.  Balancing school and music is a difficult feat, but when students are passionate about what they do, they find a way.

After getting his first drum set at age 4, he knew he wanted to play the drums throughout his life. He began to pursue his ambition by joining percussion in the sixth grade in hopes to build onto his future.

“I always played drums, and knew I wanted to be on the drum line ever since I was little,” Knippa said. “I was going to pursue drum line through college and hopefully continue music out of college either as a performer or as an audio technician.”

Knippa displays his musical talent on his YouTube channel: BradyKDrum where he uploads videos of him performing.

Like Knippa, junior Sydney Owens has always been passionate about music since her parents put her in piano lessons when she was 5. Although she participated in numerous activities ranging from dance to soccer, Owens truly found her place in music.

Owens has grown up in a musical family, which has influenced her passion as she plans to be a musician the rest of her life.

In the pursuit of expanding her musical knowledge, she joined the Coppell band program in sixth grade, planning to follow in her father’s footsteps by playing the saxophone.  But instead, she became a percussionist and does not regret her decision.  Owens has been playing percussion ever since and even auditioned and made it into the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra.

“I have always really connected with music and with the instruments ever since I began at such an early age, and my parents tell me that if it gets overwhelming or too much, I have the choice to do something else,” Owens said.  “But music is definitely something I have stuck with throughout the years as a personal choice.”

Coppell High School has numerous students who pursue music inside as well as outside of school.  Such as the case of senior Janet Han who recently displayed her talent at the CHS talent show in which she played the piano and sang.

Like Owens, Han began playing the piano at a young age after her parents, who are musicians themselves, pushed her into it. She continued taking lessons until freshman year. Despite complaining about lessons as a child, she does not regret all the time she spent learning the piano.

“I’m in the worship team at my church, and when the other leader graduated in eighth grade, they kind of stuck me there since I played the piano and they had me sing with it,” Han said.

Ever since becoming a musician at her church, Han has been pursuing music through school band as well as on her own time.  You can check out Han’s musical talent at her YouTube channel: janethannnn.

Han not only plays music on her own time, but like Owens and Knippa, she is a member of the CHS band.  She has been playing the clarinet since sixth grade when she first auditioned and joined the Coppell band program.  Although she joined simply because her friends did as well, she has continued with it for seven years.

“I will do my homework, but then if I get really stressed, I’ll just go to the piano.  So its kind of like a stress reliever,” Han said.  “Whenever I need to get away, music is my go to, my getaway.”

Although Han has no plans to major or even minor in music, she knows that music will always remain a prominent aspect of her life.  On the other hand, both Knippa and Owens plan on continuing to pursue music in the future.

Whether it is through a career or as favorite past time, music is something prominent in the lives of these three high school students.  While balancing school and music can be difficult, due to their passion, they make it through.

To them, music is a huge aspect of their lives and it is something they are willing to devote themselves to.

“I feel like music is a God-given talent and my music is an expression of this gift, showing how blessed I am,” Owens said.