Hello fellow bagpipe enthusiasts/classmates!

My name is Hilary, and I am 35 years old, and live in Caribou, Maine. I work full time as a phlebotomist at an outpatient family practice clinic. When I'm not working, I am busy raising my four children and one fur baby, my Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Spike. I have ALWAYS been a huge fan of the pipes!

My first encounter with a full set of pipes was during a teacher's demonstration when I was in eighth grade. She even let me TRY to play them! I was the only one in my class who attempted to play her full set of pipes in front of everyone! I wasn't good, of course... But, I did make some sounds! After that, I was completely obsessed. The sound of bagpipes makes my heart swell with pride and amazement, gives me goosebumps, and sometimes even brings me to tears. Scottish culture has always been a big part of my upbringing as well, since my grandmother's maiden name is MacDonald, and she grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, where there is a massive population of Scottish/English/Irish descendants. My own ancestry DNA test recently has revealed that I'm a whopping 50% Scottish! I am very proud of my ancestry and heritage, and feel it is absolutely imperative that we appreciate, preserve, live, and share our culture. No one in my family can currently play the bagpipes, and I fully intend to change that!

My musical background is not extremely extensive, but I was a chorus student for at least four or five of the years that I spent in grade school. While a member of the chorus, I was a fairly successful Alto, and performed a few solos during concerts, even. When I got to Middle School, I played trombone in the school band for about two years. As a teenager, I tried to teach myself how to play guitar, but I never learned to read sheet music (especially in treble clef), never was able to acquire formal tutelage, and eventually stopped playing guitar altogether. Fast forward may years and four children and several career changes later, I am now ready to seriously buckle down and achieve my dream of making bagpipes a permanent fixture in my life. I need to do this for me, my community, my heritage, and most importantly, my grandmother. She loves the sound of bagpipes, and I want to be able to play them for her whenever she wants to hear them.

Thank you for having me, everyone! I very much look forward to meeting new people, learning new things, and celebrating all of our victories and soothing all of our setbacks together. Take care, and best of luck to us all!

Sincerely,

Hilary Bush