Everyone has role models.

Some people (middle schoolers) look up to celebrities like

6ix9ine. Other people look up to politicians like Barack Obama or Donald Trump. Some people

even look up to people from their own lives, like Captain. Instead, I look up to a dead old white

guy. Specifically, Dmitri Shostakovich. (Be prepared to see my nerdy side.)

Shostakovich was a classical composer. He did some groovy stuff and I like his music. It’s

fun, upbeat, and depressing. I’d recommend his 2nd Piano Concerto. While Shostakovich was

alive and composing, the Russian regime was also alive and was incredibly controlling. All of

Shostakovich’s music, along with other composers like Sergei Prokofiev, had to fit the Russian

regime’s guidelines. What came out of this was a bunch of music that could have been

complete crap, but was incredibly beautiful. For example, Shostakovich wrote his 8 th String

Quartet in 3 days during this regime as a suicide letter. The music is incredibly well-known and

haunting. Thankfully, his son and friend talked him out of suicide. He also composed many

different symphonies that subliminally defied the Russian regime, like the Leningrad Symphony.

It’s not just Shostakovich that I look up to, though. I admire all of the musicians, artists, and

authors who were persecuted at that time but still created their art. I look up to them because

of their courageousness and creativity during their times of resilience.

Another role model that I have is Bo Burnham. If you don’t know who Bo is, he is a

stand-up comedian who I recommend watching. He’s hilarious. His comedy specials are

incredibly funny for the first forty-five minutes, but the last fifteen minutes are heartbreaking.

During those last fifteen minutes, he talks in depth about the pressure of being famous or his

depression and anxiety, all while joking and singing. I look up to Bo because I wish that I could
be as open as he is with his problems, and I wish that I would me more honest with my

problems as well.