By Kirstyn Lyles
Receiving a random delivery at the door wasn’t on then-sixth-grader Brooklynn Jefferson’s mind that day in November 2020. She had been attending virtual school during the COVID-19 pandemic when she heard the doorbell ring. When she went to the door, a big, heavy box was waiting to greet her.
Jefferson wasn’t sure what was in it, but she decided to bring it inside and ask her mother about it later when she arrived home from work. “Hey, it’s a delivery. It’s something that came in earlier,” she told her.
“Oh, I know what it is,” her mom replied. “Bring it here.” Jefferson hauled the mysterious package to the living room. There her mother promptly opened it, revealing an instrument, leading to even further confusion from her daughter.
“What is this?” she asked.
“It’s a trombone for you!” her mom replied.
This statement did little to clear up Jefferson’s misunderstanding. A gift seemed reasonable since it was her birthday, but a trombone wasn’t what she expected. “But why?”
“Because you said you wanted one!”
That’s when it clicked, for she had expressed interest in obtaining a trombone, although that had been four years ago. When she was in second grade, an orchestra came to perform at her school, and a man playing the trombone mesmerized her. “He was making sounds with it, like motorcycle sounds, and I thought it was so cool,” Jefferson recalls.
‘A Random Trombone’
Although the trombone was a big surprise, Jefferson is grateful for the opportunities it provides her. She joined Bailey APAC Middle School because she “had a random trombone,” and she continues with her musical endeavors at Murrah High School.
Her entire family is “musical,” as she describes it. Jefferson herself is a part of marching band, symphonic band and jazz band. She considers music a central part of her life.
The first-year Youth Media Project student is also a member of Murrah’s softball team, theater department, and speech and debate team. However, she is considering dropping one of those hobbies when her sophomore year begins when she will be joining the student council as sophomore secretary.
Apart from school, Jefferson enjoys travelling. During December 2023, she went on a trip to Accra, Ghana, where she had a plethora of different experiences, ranging from feeding mono monkeys to having a long ride up a tall mountain.
“It was one of the most fascinating trips of my life thus far,” she says.
Passions On Top Of Passions
Having such a wide range of activities and experiences has helped Jefferson immensely, but she admits that she is still trying to figure out her future career.
“I’ve always been the type of person that when somebody asks me, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up,’ I tell them I don’t know yet,” she says. “I’m in high school. I have a lot of passions and a lot of things I feel like I could branch out to.”
Currently, Jefferson finds herself split between pursuing a career in the medical field, music or acting.
The Youth Media Project intrigued her because her brother Hart has participated in the program, and journalism is a potential career path she is considering. “I want to do a little bit of everything: photography, videography, all that type of stuff,” she says.
Jefferson was excited to delve into everything that YMP covered this year with its focus on health care, and to see where her future will take her. Whether she goes on another profound trip, joins another club at school or picks up another hobby, she’ll keep moving to the sound of her own tune.
Click here to read more about Kirstyn Lyles, who wrote this piece about fellow Youth Media Project student journalist Brooklynn Jefferson.