Sponsored Post: Flexible Schedule Helps Insight Student Pursue Passion In College

The following post is sponsored by K12 and Insight School of Washington. Author credit: Savannah Norton

K12-Powered Student Earns Piano Scholarship to Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music

Mya King. Photo credit K12 Schools

“I can’t wait to start learning at an amazing institution filled with young musicians like me,” Mya said. “I’m very excited and thankful to have been accepted into the school because it was my top choice.”

Looking for a more flexible school schedule to accommodate her piano lessons and practice hours, Mya enrolled at ISWA in ninth grade. Online school is key for her, as it allows her to get school work done at any hour of the day.

“Not only has it allowed for more practicing, but when I was gone auditioning at music schools for over a month, I was able to bring my laptop with me and still access my courses,” Mya said.

Mya’s two siblings also play piano and attend ISWA.  Her family loves ISWA and appreciates its flexible schedule and supportive teachers.

“I told my counsellor at ISWA that I was accepted because she wrote a recommendation letter for me and she was very happy to hear the news,” Mya said.

The online environment has worked well for Mya.  She can focus on more than one thing rather than just school, and her schedule wasn’t conductive to a normal school day.

Mya has a 60-to-90-minute lesson each week with her teacher, Dr. Peter Mack, in Seattle.  The Silverdale resident also practices on her own anywhere between 3-to-6 hours a day depending on her competition and performance schedule. If there is an upcoming competition, she usually practices about six hours a day.

Mya recently won the Washington State Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) competition for both piano solos and duets.

“Winning solos at this competition was my favorite competition I have won because it was the most prestigious award I have received,” she said.  “I have also won the Bremerton Symphony Concerto Competition in 2015, which was exciting to win because I got to perform a concerto with the Bremerton Symphony.”

After graduating from Indiana with her bachelor of music in 2021, Mya plans to return to school for her master’s degree and eventually a doctorate in piano performance.

“The ultimate goal will to one day be a piano performance professor at a conservatory or a university in addition to performing,” she said.