Meet Hezekiah

When I first showed up at Cornell, I had, among other things, a box of food, my hat collection, a rocket ship cup, and one of my most faithful companions.

I’ll admit, when we first became acquainted in middle school, I wasn't sure we’d last this long together, but we have.  He’s weathered all sorts of storms, been all sorts of places, seen some of the country with me.  We've been through a lot together.

Since I came to Cornell, he’s been hanging out under my desk most of the time.  Here he is:

His name’s Hezekiah.  I thought it was time to formally introduce him, though he is mentioned on my About Me page.

I got him in middle school, but I finally named him before coming to college, and having played him for the better part of five or six years, I have to say this is a very nice student instrument.  Not that I’m an expert or anything, but he’s survived middle school, a marching band season, and almost half a year of pep band.  That includes rain, snow, freezing temperatures, and being dropped.

I haven’t had to make any major repairs, although I did get the keys realigned . . . once . . . three years ago.  So it’s a pretty low maintenance instrument if you don’t do dumb things with it.  Like throw it into a snow bank, or practice your javelin throwing with it.  Things like that.

For people thinking, “Don’t plastic clarinets usually sound pretty lousy?”, I have this to say: my sophomore year of high school, I made the district band with this clarinet (a Buffet B12).  Last chair, but I attribute that more to my mediocre playing than to the instrument.  So while he may not be a professional instrument, he can stand up to the competition.  Like I said, we've been through a lot.  I think he’s a keeper.