Going for gold: Elodie Chousmer-Howells

I have a sister who's about six or seven years older than me and she started on classical cello, so I grew up going to her lessons, listening to her practise and seeing her play in a local string orchestra, – which is where I got the idea that I could play violin. Watching BBC Young Musician when I was about five and seeing Nicola Benedetti win on TV also really inspired me.

I first found out about Chetham because my older sister's cello teacher said that she should study there. For my sister, it was more of a hobby, so she decided against it, but I thought the idea sounded exciting! I loved the idea of being surrounded by people who loved music as much as I do and being able to play music as much as I wanted. It was a very informative experience. It taught me a lot about discipline and was so inspiring as everyone around me was playing to such a high level, but it was still an encouraging environment. There were so many fantastic performance opportunities too, you'd always have chances to play at professional concerts and take part in performance classes, which isn't something you get at normal schools. Being taught how to deal with performance nerves, year on year really helps you build up a resilience.