The Power of Perspective

Michelle (left) with friend Elisa (right) enjoying a cup of coffee.

Greetings! My name is Michelle Tran and I am a violist from the sunshine state of Florida. I have recently graduated from Fei Tian College and I’ve had the amazing opportunity to tour with Shen Yun as a part of my practicum studies. In this blog, I would like to share a bit of my story—about how the power of having a positive perspective has changed my life.

My motto in life is: “There are a lot of things that happen to us that we can’t change, but there is one thing that we can always control: our perspective.”

For as long as I can remember, music has been my favorite language. As a kid, I’d always felt a natural affinity for music—listening to music was my favorite pastime and it made me feel at peace. My family was not well-off enough to encourage my siblings and me to take music or dance classes, so when my elementary school gave its students the opportunity to pick a string instrument to learn for free, I was delighted. When I heard the violin or viola for the first time (I don’t think I knew the difference back then), I was mesmerized. Playing the viola started off as a hobby, but it eventually turned into my passion.

As a high school student, I was faced with a lot of life choices. I had good grades and a healthy interest in biology and medicine. With my grades, I think I could have gotten into a good medical school. But although I was mildly interested in going to medical school, and it seemed to make sense at the time, music still really spoke to me. By then, the viola was already an inseparable part of me and I was really passionate about performing. But my dreams of playing the viola professionally were, at best, wishful thinking. Although I’d been playing the viola as a hobby for quite a few years already, I didn’t have a proper teacher; I was only able to cling desperately to the small amateur orchestras of the schools I attended. In addition, my family’s limited financial situation made it difficult for me to learn with a professional viola teacher. Up until then, that was really the biggest obstacle that I had ever faced in my life. I had to make a choice—was I going to admit defeat due to my circumstances, or was I going to try to stick to my love of music? Considering my situation, it was very easy to admit defeat—all I had to do was look at my peers, as nobody I knew was pursuing the arts professionally.

Around that time, I was introduced to a spiritual practice called Falun Dafa. It was like a ray of hope had come into my life. Falun Dafa taught me to have a bigger perspective, to look beyond myself, and to stay positive amidst trying circumstances. I stopped looking down on myself and tried my best to grasp whatever opportunity that would come my way. I borrowed many viola music books from my school, and tried to teach myself. It was then, after I had gained a new perspective, that the tides slowly started to shift in my favor. Seeing the renewed positivity and spirit that I exhibited in continuing my musical studies, the music teachers that I encountered offered me free lessons, and my parents finally helped me get some lessons from a more professional violist. It wasn’t an easy path for me to pursue the viola, and at times I was often discouraged by how limited my resources were. However, I kept my positive mindset and I learned how important it was to have the right perspective—because without that perspective, I don’t think I would have been able to get through that initial period of time, and I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what I was going to do next.

Not long after, I learned of Fei Tian and it sounded like the opportunity of a lifetime. All of my dreams were starting to come together. Fei Tian could offer me a peaceful environment and the conditions to fulfill my dreams of becoming a professional violist, as well as the chance to help me refine my character. When I auditioned, to my great surprise, I was admitted—and I know that I wouldn’t have made it if I didn’t keep that positive perspective. I wouldn’t have been able to get my skill level to audition-level acceptability if I had succumbed to the difficulties of getting there.

Finally coming to Fei Tian and then having the amazing opportunity to travel and perform around the globe with Shen Yun was beyond my imagination; I felt like I was living in a dream. I had always wanted to find a school where I could truly fit in, a place where I could feel safe, and a mission that connected with my goals and values—and I had finally found it. But, all the happiness aside, I started to realize that the journey of truly refining my skills was just about to begin, and it wasn’t going to be easy. Although I had natural talent and plenty of love for my instrument, I had to truly and solidly build my fundamentals to become professional grade, which was definitely a challenge. I remember spending many, many hours alone in a practice room, lots of tears, and painful calloused fingers. But, despite the sweat and tears, I was willing to go through all of that, because I knew that was the way for me to get to where I wanted to be. I had the right perspective to go along with it: the perspective that hardship and difficulties made me more resilient, and that they were the stepping stones of my path to perfecting my character—they made me a stronger and better person.

Another difficulty that I encountered on my journey was the language barrier I had. When I first came to Fei Tian, I had basically no Chinese language ability. I came into this environment hoping to thrive and to have a sense of belonging, but coming from a very different background and having a different ethnicity from those around me, I was worried that I’d stick out way too much in this new setting. But it turned out that I had nothing to worry about in this aspect. I discovered that most people spoke English in addition to Chinese, and they were from all around the world. Australians, Canadians, Taiwanese, Japanese—there was an abundance of cultural and language barriers. My fellow students and teachers didn’t ostracize me at all, however; they didn’t make me feel like I was any different from them. With their support, I developed a wholesome perspective that helped me overcome this difficulty. Ultimately, they encouraged me to look at things positively, and to put my heart into my studies and on improving myself instead. Whenever I felt negative or frustrated at my language skills, there was always someone, a teacher or a friend, who was there to help me quickly get back on my feet.

I started to slowly and determinedly learn Chinese language and culture, and I’ve gained so much. It opened my mind to things I didn’t know I could achieve and showed me all there is to gain from perseverance. I chose not to look down on myself for being different, and to not be negative about my background. With the encouragement of those around me, I chose to be positive, to learn, and to try to overcome any hardships that came my way. In the end, I’ve picked up a third language and am even fluent enough to help translate for Vietnamese newcomers. By having the right outlook, I was able to overcome many other difficulties and gain many new skills on my path of growing at Fei Tian.

The journey that I have taken to become the person and musician that I am today wasn’t always rainbows and sunshine, there were plenty of dark clouds and storms too—but it was having the right outlook that helped me make it through. I’ve personally decided to focus on the rainbows and the sunshine, and through that process, I’ve made the amazing discovery that positivity has a domino effect. During my studies at Fei Tian College and my practicum tour with Shen Yun, I’ve found—to the benefit of myself and others—that having a positive perspective can truly be infectious; it’s even sort of become a trend. There are people out there who talk about peer pressure and all the negative effects that it brings—but I’ve never felt any peer pressure at Fei Tian, and I certainly wouldn’t call looking at things positively a form of peer pressure.

I decided to attend Fei Tian and participate in Shen Yun because this community strives for values that I also strive for, to spread goodness and positivity, and to use an elevated art form to uplift others. I truly believe that every person deserves to find their own place of happiness, their own place of belonging, and I think it is important to respect that. I certainly have found that place of happiness at Fei Tian and Shen Yun—a place that has helped me to achieve a dream that I once thought impossible, by helping me to use the power of perspective the right way.