If I have this correct 14 would correspond to approximately a freshman in high school.
When my oldest was a freshman and sophomore in high school she also wanted a career in music. She had a sign on the wall in her bedroom that said “music = life”. She was writing songs and was very good at all of guitar, piano, and singing. Her best songs were also very good. In the summer between freshman and sophomore years she took a songwriting class at a local university that is famous for music and it was a very good class. The class also touched on some business aspects of music that were valuable. Between sophomore and junior years (if I am remembering this correctly) she went on a music tour of Europe. She discovered that she might love the music, but she did not like the travel and the “different hotel every night”. She got tired of the same songs. Around about the same time her friends kept bugging her to play her best songs, and she got tired of them also (personally I loved them, still love them, and will never get tired of them).
About the same time we visited a music professor who I know, who introduced us to another music professor who used to sing and dance on Broadway. She discovered that NYC is an expensive place to live, and singing and dancing on Broadway does not pay very well. She also got tired of playing the same music every night. She went back to university, got her PhD, and became a music professor (and colleague of the professor I know better).
After this my daughter started to neglect her music, and instead focus on academics. She did well in high school, did well in university, figured out the right career path for her, and is now a bit more than 1/2 way through getting a DVM. We occasionally get pictures of her with her patients. The most recent is a rather large cow.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this I was taking guitar lessons (I have occasionally played in public without embarrassing myself or the family). I had a teacher who had started his bachelor’s degree at a very good private university, but ran out of money part way through. He was unable to afford to borrow enough money to finish his degree. He transferred to an in-state public university where he completed his bachelor’s degree. He would have been far better off starting at the affordable in-state public university.
And working in high tech I know several people who also work in high tech but who play music on the side. I have seen several high tech coworkers get up on stage and play, and in most cases play very well. Music and Math are skills that sometimes (not always) run together.
But then I also know someone who became a music professor, and who has done well sticking with music as his career.
We all find our path through life a bit at a time. For someone who is excellent at music, the right path does not always involve a career in music.
And MOST careers in music do not pay very well (a few famous musicians being an exception). I would be very cautious about taking on debt for a bachelor’s degree in music.
