Bottle It Up was composed to capture the frustration and anxiety when dealing with difficult life events. Specifically, this work was a means to express the difficulty of teaching during the academic year in which students began to return in person after the COVID-19 pandemic. Many colleagues and veteran teachers have expressed that this experience was the most difficult time in their teaching careers, but at the time many simply bottled up their frustrations.The piece begins with this raw frustration pounding in the percussion. With layered dissonances, the piece builds until a moment of release. This new texture of bouncing fourths and fifths symbolizes the forward-thinking and ever-persistent spirit of teachers. As the year went on, some teachers began to open up about how they felt and were optimistic about the future. This optimism is presented in an upbeat melody, shared throughout the brass and woodwinds. With stomping, clapping, and cheerful sixteenth note flourishes, there is hope in the years to come. Although the piece moves forward, there are still piercing moments to remind what has been bottled up. The final repetition of the main melody is transposed up as an encouragement for people to share in both frustrations and in joy.