Sammantha Garza, VC Pirate
Sammantha Garza was in elementary school the day her musician father brought home a beat-up drum set and duct-taped it together. It was love at first sight.
“You could never get me off that thing,” she said. “From there, it was pretty much, ‘This is what I’m doing.’ I’ve not thought about doing anything else with my life — I’ve always known it would be music.
“I’ve always been around music. In our house, we had a separate room with basses, guitars and amps. My dad plays bass, while my brother plays bass and guitar. My boyfriend even plays bass, too. I’m surrounded by music.”
Now in her final semester as a music major at Victoria College, Garza will perform a solo recital on campus on May 1. She plans to transfer to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the fall to major in music education and performance. Garza hopes to follow up with a post-graduate degree after earning her bachelor’s degree.
“I want to make sure I am on the performing side of things, but I would eventually like to be a music professor,” she said. “We have very good professors at VC, so that’s been a big inspiration to me wanting to teach, too. I have always loved school and been a busy bee.”
Garza began earning college credit while in high school by taking dual-credit band courses at VC during her junior year. Since graduating from Victoria East High School, then enrolling as a full-time VC student in Fall 2021, she has auditioned and been awarded a music scholarship each year.
“When I came here, I was not at all ready to leave Victoria for another college,” she said. “I have lived in Victoria my whole life. The good thing about VC is we’re small, but not too small. You get to know your people, have time to ask questions and be one-on-one with your professors. It’s been great for me.”
In high school, Garza played on the drumline, taking on the role of captain her senior year. She also advanced to University Interscholastic League state competition. She has always played percussion, including two years in a band outside of school with her brother and two of his friends.
“My head is always thinking about playing when I can’t practice, because I can’t bring my instruments with me in a case,” she said. “When I get to perform, all of the effort that I put into that performance makes it worthwhile.
“I even played a piece with bowls as the drums and spoons as the drumsticks on a diner set during a percussion concert in high school. It was a lot of fun.”
Now that her time at VC is winding down, Garza is less apprehensive about leaving home and excited about what the future has in store.
“I have grown so much at VC with everyone,” she said. “It’s cool to see people who come here, then move on and grow out of their shell. We are all pretty much the same way in the Music Department. We weren’t ready to leave, but once you do leave, you are ready. It’s great to see my friends who have done that.”