The flute is a hard instrument to play, but senior Haley Parks has found its secret. 

It is clear Haley Parks is a talented musician as she has numerous accomplishments. Throughout her life, she has been growing up with the flute and figuring out the nuances of the instrument. 

“I got my first flute for Christmas, and I’ve been playing for about 10 years,” Parks said.

Although ten years may seem like a long time, time flies. Parks has had quite memorable experiences not only at South High but also in St. Louis. For example, one of her fundamental roles as a musician is being one of the members of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and also participating in an all-state, as well as all-suburban band. 

One of her key moments during the summer was her opportunity to participate in the Missouri Ambassadors in Music program. 

“The program that took us all to Europe over the summer. And we’ve toured a couple different countries, which is very cool,” she said.

 Haley’s motivation to achieve more and more isn’t easy. She always tries to get every opportunity that comes forward. 

“I do my best to sign up for every extra credit music opportunity I can and I try to get out and learn with a bunch of different teachers because I always think it’s better to spread my horizons,” she said.

Parks’ talent does not go overlooked as she is excelling tremendously in music and other honorable programs. Her talent is seen by teachers and conductors when asked about what made her realize she was better than just good, she mentions when she auditioned online for state as a freshman. 

“I was not only the highest-scoring freshman in the entire state, but also I was the first alternate in the band, and he said that he had just done that in his senior year of high school. So that was the moment for me,” Parks said. 

Additionally, not only does her rhythm and symphonies award her, but they also emotionally affect her audience. She used to volunteer at the Meramec Bluffs nursing home and something she didn’t expect happened. 

“The first time that we played we had so many of the residents coming up and saying ‘you just made my day you know, I used to play music’, ‘I’ve always wanted to play music’ and ‘what you did was beautiful’ and being able to share my music with those  residents made my day. Probably not as much as theirs, but it really, it was very fulfilling,” Parks said.

 However, behind all the accomplishments and shiny awards, there have been tough times. But, Hailey’s motivation steers her clear of any destructive mindset and setbacks. She explains her thought process during a huge obstacle that she couldn’t have ignored.  

“In my junior year, I broke two of my fingers in a barn door a month before my district auditions. And I had to get surgery. I had to get my fingernails removed and metal pins in my fingers. And that was a setback. I had to relearn how to play the flute with this hand completely and also just take time off, but it kind of made me realize, I had to choose, did I want to use this as an excuse, or did I want to use it as motivation? So I pushed through that,” Parks said. 

Now that she’s a senior, Parks said she is much more confident in her music. 

“Giving myself the self-confidence of, I’ve done this so many times before  I know this music so well and just preventing any doubt of, Oh, I’m not  I can’t do this and just telling myself over and over again,  I’ve played the music almost perfectly before I can do it,” Parks said. 

Parks said she is thankful for music and where it’s taken her. 

“If it wasn’t for music, it’s led me to experience the payoff of hard work and genuinely how good it feels to put time into something and be good at it. So I’m very thankful for that,” she said.

Most recently, Haley played her flute and marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. As a child, Parks said she always remembered the big Snoopy float, and seeing it in person was a full-circle moment for her. Not only this but also interaction with Jimmy Fallon was a funny experience. 

When she got the news that she was going to participate with other high school students around the world in the big city of New York, her family supported her 100%. 

“They were like ‘we’ll look out for you on TV,’ Yeah, I could also say the same for the state this year. That was probably the biggest achievement that was probably the highlight of everything,” she said. 

  Now, what will music hold for the future? Parks has a plan during college that will incorporate music in her academic life, but also her personal life as well.

“I hope to get a degree in music performance and computer science. I’ll be using my music performance degree to teach you privately later on in life so I kind of want to be a private lessons teacher but also leave doors open for maybe a master’s program or maybe performance but right now my main focus is computer science,” she said.

Parks said she would ultimately like to teach music to little kids, who were once like her. She wants to be the representation of what they could be and how to push towards their goals. 

Lastly, when asked to give advice to students who may feel anxious or unsure about pursuing music, Parks leaves off on a good note. 

“I would say that music has an amazing ability to bring people together. I get to interact with them and playing with them in an ensemble is honestly so different because you have to listen to each other in a way that you’ve never listened to before. Music is just a great way to just make yourself better and those around you,” Parks said.