If you’ve been to an Ames High concert or musical, chances are, you’ve seen Lydia Linch. She has had leading roles in musicals like our most recent high school performance Babes in Arms. She is involved in Jazz Band, Pep Band, Madrigal, Solo ensemble, and she prepared for all-state in choir. In order to understand why Lydia dedicates literally hundreds upon hundreds of hours to music, we must go back to the beginning of her musical life.

Her passion for music began when she was very little .“I was always just singing around the house, I’m sure it was irritating,” she joked. In fact, she can’t remember a time where she didn’t sing. Her passion and desire for playing saxophone was spurred by her dad’s talent. Lydia claimed that she “always wanted to be as good as he was.” So when the fifth grade band tryouts came along, she was determined to be placed on the saxophone.In fact, she was so determined that she took her dads tenor sax mouthpiece and practiced blowing it relentlessly. “People were always telling me to shut up because it was so annoying,” Lydia said. But when she got to the tryouts she blew too hard because they had her audition on an alto sax mouthpiece. But she quickly recovered from this initial mistake and hasn’t looked back since. While she has been singing longer than she’s played the saxophone Lydia can’t imagine her life without either of these activities, when I asked her to choose between the two she couldn’t.

She has acted in many musicals throughout the years. She says that when she first started acting she wanted the role of the sweet innocent girl but was instead often handed the role of the “sassy or nasty girl.” However, she didn’t let this discourage her, she continued to act and says she has loved every role that has been handed to her. She says that despite her immense amount of experience performing she still gets some anxiety when performing, especially in choire.  

While music is the main thing Lydia is passionate about she also runs cross country and has a love for science. In fact she says that one day she might want to be a doctor.

When asked which teacher has had the greatest impact on her Lydia said that both Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Ripley because “they were both pretty hard graders and forced me to work harder.” She described the pride that came with getting better and better grades and becoming a better writer throughout her time in those classes.

Lydia has a lot to look forward to in her upcoming senior year. She is hoping to be an all state choir member. She is going to be one of the senior leaders for girls cross country and she always has another musical and madrigal to look forward to.

When asked what advice she would give to underclassmen she has two main things to say: “Failure is going to happen” and “Don’t be cocky.” She says that by being humble you will make more friends and actually get more attention for your accomplishments.

Despite being so busy with music, Lydia likes to spend time watching movies, specifically Harry Potter, with friends and just hanging out. She says she just does “normal people things.”

So next time you are at a girls cross country meet, an Ames High concert or even Pancheros, look out for Lydia Linch.