I am currently going into my senior year of college and then I am off into the real "adult" world where I am expected to get my big kid job. Since day one of college, I knew that I wanted to be a music teacher and throughout the last three years I've had many ups and downs and I often questioned if teaching was my true calling. But I pushed through and I know that this is what I want to do. Whenever I find myself doubting my choices I stop and ask myself "Why do I want to teach?” After doing this my goals become much clearer.

One of the reasons I want to teach is because my wonderful experience with music from a young age. Growing up I had many insecurities and I was sad because I never felt like I was good at anything. I tried nearly every sport and to be completely honest I was awful at each one of them. However, I was a great bench warmer. When it came to school itself I was pretty average and average is what I always considered myself. During this time I started to get more involved in music and in 8th grade our school got a new band director and that is when my love for music started. If it had not been for my band director I would never have considered becoming a music teacher myself. He pushed each and every one of us to be the best that we can be and never sugar coated anything. He told you what he thought and because of that, it helped me grow as a musician and a person. That is why I want to teach, so I can do what my band director did for me for future students.

Last year I was given the opportunity to teach music lessons at the cultural center in town and I have fallen in love with it. This is a time where all my teachings come into play and see if what I had been learning in school had paid off or not. When I first started my main thought was that it would give me good practice for when I finally start teaching and that it would look great on a resume. What I did not expect was how great it would feel to work with the students and watch them grow as musicians. The most rewarding moment for me was watching their eyes light up when the accomplished something they had been working so hard on. For example, I had a saxophone student who could barely play his low notes and did not know any high notes either but by the end of the summer, he could play his entire chromatic scale. Just seeing the excitement in his eyes after he finished playing reminded me why I want to teach. Those moments are what I live for as a teacher.

There are many reasons why I believe teaching is so important but it was this summer where I realized why this is my true calling. For two years now I have been a counselor at a middle school music camp. Just let me tell you something, this is not an easy job. It is an entire week of herding kids from point A to point B, ensuring that each student makes it to his or her lessons or that they make it to the correct class. As a counselor, patience can be worn thin, as Bilbo Baggins put it "Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread." The butter being my patience. Do not get me wrong though, I love this camp with all my heart! It is extremely rewarding by the end of the week seeing how much progress each student has made and in the end it is amazing how fast the week flew by. Throughout the week there are certain campers that we build bigger bonds with and one myself and the rest of the counselors cared for who I will refer to as Alex, but if any counselors read this you will know exactly who I am talking about. Alex came from a rather small school over 5 hours away from the camp. We were told to keep an eye out on him because he was feeling sad and I noticed that he would distance himself away from other campers and nearly every meal he sat with the counselors. After talking to him, I learned that his family seemed to have a lot of issues but even with that I also learned that he is one of the sweetest boys I have ever met. Whenever we talked to him he always had a large smile on his face. At the end of the week, he told us during lunch that this week had been the best week of his life and he did not want the week to end. It took every part of me not to cry. It was in that moment that I remembered why I love music camp and why I want to be a music teacher, for all of the Alex's out there. I want to show students what music can do for your life and ensure that they always feel like they have a place to be safe. No matter what life may be like at home or school, I want students to know they can forget their worries while in the band because it is a place to learn and grow as an individual.

I could go on forever talking about why music is important. I believe music should be a part of every child's life and that is why it is my mission to become a great teacher. I want to share my love for music with others and spark creativity to the youth. I owe it to my amazing teachers to do what they did for me to the next generation. Yes, being a teacher is not the most glamorous job and no we do not make a lot of money but if either of things are something you want do not teach. We teach to help students become the best they can be and help them prepare for the future. I teach music because it is something everyone can be a part of regardless of your age, race, or gender. Music has affected everyone in their life at some point in time. My goal is to spread the importance of music and to help students who ever felt like I did when I was young. This is why I teach, not for the money or the glory but instead to spread the beauty of music.