Pursuits of Happiness

• Citation: Vol. 45 No. 1 Pg. 6
• Publication year: 2019
• Pages: 6

PURSUITS OF HAPPINESS Vol. 45 No. 1 Pg. 6 Vermont Bar Journal Spring, 2019

Interview with Jennifer Wagner: Smallpipers Three

Jennifer Emens-Butler: I am here at Marsh & Wagner speaking with Jennifer Wagner about her pursuits of happiness. So, Jennifer, you had contacted me, which is great, and you brought me 3 lawyers.

JW: Indeed, I thought it would be a very interesting story for your column.

JEB: Have you always been interested in music?

JW: I started playing drums in 3rd grade.

JEB: Drums? So, is that the gateway instrument?

JW: [laughs] That is the gateway instrument.

JEB: Drums seem to be something a lot of young kids want to do, but did you play drums through school?

JW: I played for 2 years before my mother begged me to switch to an instrument that played a melody!

I had been somewhat obsessed with civil war movies, which was where the drums came from, so I switched to another war-inspired instrument, the trumpet, in 5^th grade.

JEB: Now, I would assume, the drums are a little bit disturbing in the household, but the trumpet to me, is also very loud, and especially when you are learning can be a difficult thing to listen to for others in the home, would you say?

JW: Yes, but my Mom’s only condition was that it had to play a melody, now being a lawyer, I see that I stuck with the rule.

JEB: The one criterion: Play a melody.

JW: But, yes, it’s still quite loud.

JEB: And you still play trumpet to this day, right?

JW: Yes, I still play trumpet to this day. I play in the Middlebury Wind Ensemble, for 2 semesters, both spring and fall and in the summer in the Bristol Community Band.

JEB: So I assume, then, that you played that in high school?

JW: Yeah, I played the trumpet through high school, college and as an adult in the community.

JEB: Where did you go to college?

JW: The University of Vermont.

JEB: And did you play for an ensemble in school?

JW: I did. I played for the Wind Ensemble at school, the Hockey Pep Band, the Band, the Orchestra and the Brass Ensemble.

JEB: No marching?

JW: They don’t have a football team at UVM.

JEB: Oh, that’s right. So, no marching bands at all?

JW: That’s why I chose UVM, because there was no marching band. I got into the University of Michigan, but you had to be in the marching band.

JEB: You mean to play the trumpet at the University of Michigan, you HAD to?

JW: You HAD to be in the marching band. And I hate marching. The University of Vermont was so attractive because they didn’t make me march. There was no football team, but I did play in the cold ice hockey rink instead for the ice hockey band.

JEB: Oh, you did? But at least you were seated!

JW: Yeah.

JEB: And do you like sports or it was just something that they required of trumpeters?

JW: No, it was just an option and it was fun! So much that when I went to law school, I started to play ice hockey myself. So I had this introduction to the game by playing trumpet and really liked the game, so then I learned to skate in law school and learned to play ice hockey, and played for 13 years on the 2 adult women’s teams here in Middlebury.

JEB: Oh, my goodness, so you played the trumpet, saw all of the hockey action and wanted to play, but you had never even skated before?!

JW: That’s right, I had a law school classmate who is a professional figure skater who needed help studying, so I swapped my outlines for skating lessons.

JEB: Using all of your skills: negotiating first, then bartering. Ok, so you played ice hockey for 13 years and we didn’t even have that on the list of the pursuits of happiness, but you don’t play anymore?

JW: No. Too many people were getting hurt, and I didn’t want to be next on the list.

JEB: Right. It takes us so much longer to recover now.

JW: Exactly.

JEB: Ok, so this is the second gateway instrument, the trumpet, and we are here to even talk about something else, although you still play trumpet. You got introduced into a third instrument in law school or just out of law school?

JW: 2004, well out of law school.

JEB: Ok, well out of law school and what is this instrument?

JW: Well that was the Highland Bagpipes.

JEB: Oh….

JW: Which is not what I am...