In 8th grade we used to ask everyone to sign our yearbooks. I loved to sing and I was heartbroken that my yearbook was signed with a ton of nasty comments about how ugly my voice was and how bad I was at singing. When I went to high school, my choral director was very unsupportive and so I was left on my own to pursue my passion. He didn’t like my singing so I was never cast in the leading male roles because he didn’t want to work with me. I worked and worked and worked some more. I refused to give up. My dad was a factory worker and I was the first one on his side of the family to go to college - failure was not an option. By the time I was 22, things were finally starting to come together and I started booking some really nice gigs. My voice was finally able to compete at a high level around the age of 25. It took 12 years to get to that point! In order to succeed in this business you have to want this more than anything and you have to be willing to make a lot of sacrifices. If you are scared by the prospects of such a competitive business, there are plenty of other ways to earn a living in the arts and still feel fulfilled. Music therapy is an incredible field where you will sing every day and touch thousands of lives. Music education is an option as is music industry. You could also get a degree in communication disorders and become a singing voice specialist who works with musical theatre performers who have damaged their voices. If this is what you REALLY want, keep fighting and go after it with all that you have. It will be hard, but if you believe in yourself I would not be surprised at all if you were successful. Maybe you will be writing on this forum several years from now so you can inspire others.
~VT