Tessa Sommers is a sophomore  music performance major from Coal Valley, Ill.

She plays french horn in the Butler Symphony Orchestra and the Wind Ensemble.

Sommers’ path to Butler University and music has been molded by her family.

She started playing french horn before fourth grade at her mother’s suggestion.

When she was a sophomore in high school, a guidance counselor told her that she should take a Spanish class instead of band.

Sommers said she disagreed, and points to this moment as the moment she realized she wanted to pursue music as a career.

While looking at colleges, Sommers expressed her desire to be in a marching band at a small school.

Her father suggested that Butler might be a good fit, as he knew someone in its marching band at the time.

When Sommers visited, she said she found exactly what she was looking for.

Being at Butler now for a little more than a year, she said the best part of her education has been the amount of attention she has received from the horn instructor, Gail Lewis.

After graduating from Butler, Sommers said she wants to join an orchestra.

If she can’t make it right out of undergraduate studies—which she said is very common—she intends to go to graduate school before trying again.

“I just really want to be in an orchestra somewhere. It doesn’t matter where,” Sommers said.