In Conference Finale, Teen Prodigy Relates Her Unusual Tale

By Alexander MacLean

	Tiffany Clay, teen prodigy, speaks to conference participants prior to her violin performance.

Music has always been the main passion for college freshman Tiffany Clay and it’s had a huge hand in changing her life.

At the closing ceremony of the 2010 AASA national conference in Phoenix, she told about 50 attendees why.

“I never really got along with my parents so while I was in school I tried to involve myself in everything I could so that I wouldn’t have to be at home,” she told the audience before performing a duet on violin alongside her former high school music teacher Susan Larson.

Clay received national exposure in April 2009, when The New York Times ran a front-page story about her life. When she was 16, she moved out on her own and was supporting herself by working at a local Sonic Drive-In in her hometown of Newark, Ohio.

After the piece ran, Clay’s talent was widely recognized and Larson said she was flooded with phone calls inquiring about the student. After Clay met with Sonic Drive-In Vice President Nancy L. Robertson, who offered the teen a full four-year scholarship to Oklahoma City University, including room and board expenses, the teen’s life changed dramatically. She finally got the chance to pursue the career that she wanted – music education.

“I have worked full-time since I was 15 and I don’t have to right now, which is just a blessing,” she said. “Who would have thought last year that I would make it all the way from Ohio to Arizona? It’s just awesome.”

Clay revealed to the conference audience that Sony Pictures and Lifetime Television have bought the rights to her story and they are producing a film based off her experience.