0
0
When most people envision someone playing the bagpipes, they may see someone wearing a plaid kilt, performing for an audience. When sophomore Oakley Sederquist envisions someone playing the bagpipes, the first person that comes to her mind is her grandpa.
Intrigued by his skills, she has sought out on her own journey to learn the bagpipes.
About a year ago, Sederquist started to take lessons from her grandpa in order to learn the bagpipes. Not only has this strengthened her bond with her grandpa, but has developed her skills as well.
“Now I am the main inheritor,” Sederquist jokingly said.
Her favorite part of playing the bagpipes is just being able to be taught by her grandpa.
“Most people don’t know that you start with a chanter and then you move on to the bagpipes,” Sederquist said.
In order to play the bagpipes, just like any other instrument, people need to practice to learn how to play it. What sets the bagpipes apart from other instruments is that you don’t even start playing the bagpipes until you have learned how to play a chanter.
A chanter is played by beginners so they can learn how to finger the different melody notes of bagpipe music properly. Sederquist is still currently playing the chanter but hopes to play the actual bagpipes soon.
Once she is able to play the bagpipes more efficiently, Sederquist hopes to be able to play at a Scottish festival. Her grandpa has been taking her to Scottish festivals for years, and their skills helped to inspire her to want to learn how to play the bagpipes.
“Some of my goals for playing the bagpipes are to play all the grace notes correctly and I think it would be pretty fun to play at a Scottish festival,” Sederquist said.
In addition to learning how to play the bagpipes, Sederquist enjoys participating in other activities as well, including running track, cross country and watching Formula 1 racing. Last fall, Sederquist had the opportunity to run in the Snow Canyon half marathon, where she ran with one of her cross country coaches through the entire event. One of her personal records in track is a 6:04 mile, but when running the half marathon, she ran a 5:50 mile.
“I like to run because I like to increase my endurance,” Sederuist said. “I have just always liked to run.”
Sederquist works hard in all of her activities, and cross country is no exception. She may need to wake up early in the morning to go to their practices or go the extra mile if that’s what her coaches want. Sederquist’s hard work has been recognized and she is currently on the sports banner for cross country in the gym. Some of her personal records at invitationals include 20:50.4 in the 3-mile event and 21:41.6 in the 5000-meter event.
“She is always going the extra mile,” said senior Paisley Sederquist. “She is always trying.”
Sederquist also participates in track and field. Some of her personal records at invitationals include 2:46.43 in the 800-meters event, 6:06.97 in the 1600-meters event, and 13:37.52 in the 3200-meters event. She plans to participate in track again in the spring.
“Oakley is actually one of the realest people you will ever meet,” said freshman Sarah Stavros.
Racing has played a major part in Sederquist’s life, whether that be through her running races, like track or cross country, or her watching races, like Formula 1 racing.
In Sederquist’s free time, she likes to watch Formula 1 racing. She has grown to love watching it, whether alone or with someone else like her sister Paisley. Some of her favorite parts of watching Formula 1 racing is watching the drivers crash, watching all the drivers fight and she likes to hear all the quotes the drivers give. She likes to use these quotes to inspire her in her day-to-day life.
“She always wants to have fun with you,” said Stavros. “She always wants to go do something.” Whether it be learning how to play the bagpipes with her grandpa, or setting a new personal mile record while running a half marathon, Sederquist is always looking for something new to do to keep her life exciting.
