I feel that this
summer has been one of the most fulfilling seasons of my life, particularly as
a teacher and a burgeoning young adult trying to find her place in the world. I
am honored to have had the opportunity to teach under the most influential
mentors of my childhood, crossing the threshold between being a curious
absorber towards becoming a proactive creator. I am also grateful to have been
granted so many bright-eyed, precocious students whose active minds exude
colorful creativity, hope, open-mindedness and imagination. These are valuable
attributes that most adults, and even college students, seem to have abandoned
much too early. Although I have attained my personal goal of becoming a committed
teacher and mentor to young students who are currently in the same exact
position as I once was, this journey has been just that – a challenging
adventure that leads to infinity, living proof that there is always room to
learn and grow.
To be honest, my
freshman year of college was an extremely exciting yet trying period, a year in
which I was to live alone in a foreign place with no more mentors over my
shoulder to guide me. My biggest challenge was becoming my own best friend,
being able to form a new pillar of support upon the foundation of childhood
lessons and guidance I had built up throughout my entire life. I learned how to
stay motivated to do my best even when nobody was watching or encouraging me. I
learned to assume full responsibility and credit for each of my actions and
decisions, as well as their outcomes. I learned to make new quality friends who
were entirely different than anyone I had ever known before. I learned to form
my own set of values shaped by years of prior experience, tailored for each
circumstance at hand. I learned to set new goals and challenges that really
scared me, such as applying for my dream internship, taking an extra class on
top of a busy schedule, and navigating the great big city by myself. I learned
to seek help when I was struggling, and encourage others to do the same. I
learned how to deal with feeling entirely alone.
I left Boston
right after finals week, entirely disappointed and discouraged that I didn’t
get the summer internship I had so coveted. Though I had sent in applications
thoroughly and on time, my efforts were not enough. There I was, living out my
worst-case scenario as just another factor in the unemployment statistics.
Shoulders rolled forward and head hung in defeat, I rolled my suitcases back in
the house, very unhappy to have nothing productive to do for four months in
Wappingers while some of my high school friends had part-time jobs or even
fancy internships in NYC. For a short while, the disappointment led me to
stifle my formerly lofty dreams, and the summer blues set in. I struggled hopelessly
to rediscover inner peace, always looking for busy work to occupy my time or
distractions to offset my misery. Short stints of hanging out with friends,
cooking, playing viola, blogging and reading were much too temporary; I needed
something long-term, a project that I could chip away at all summer long,
something I could use to set multiple goals and see a concrete result in the
end.
Finally, I decided
to return to my roots and ask old teachers and mentors if I could help them. I
had always loved teaching as a tutor, tennis captain and private lesson teacher,
as I felt that it was the best way to learn and share. Thankfully, Mrs. Lin and
my private viola lesson teacher, Ms. Regan, were thoughtful and generous enough
to lend me a hand and offer me positions to teach under their guidance. It took
weeks of advertising my credentials to parents, making posters, phone calls,
emails, setting up interviews, and arranging schedules, but finally Mrs. Lin
was able to pull some strings and convince local parents to hire me. Ms. Regan
also put in a good word for me around the music community, and soon I was hired
to teach at a summer orchestra camp. I am so grateful for their help, and
honestly don’t know what I would do right now without them.
Soon, I was busier
than ever, and my work schedule became more rigorous and exciting. My parents
were kindly willing to work from home in the afternoons and relinquish their
cars to let me drive to work as long as I paid for gas. I decided to throw my
whole heart into teaching kids to effectively read, write, think critically,
appreciate music, be more sensitive to the world around them, and rekindle
their passion for learning and making positive change, in hopes that they would
be more prepared to face the world on their own later on.
I sifted through
websites I had never had an interest perusing before, such as Scientific
American, NPR Radio/News, and the science section of Huffington Post in hopes
to find material that my students would be interested in reading. I
brainstormed, constantly on the lookout for a potential reflection idea or
assignment, project or presentation they might latch onto. I brushed up on my
current events so I could practice what I preached and encourage them to
broaden their global perspective. I thrived off of the energy and passion that
Mrs. Lin always puts into her work, all the time and effort she spends
thoughtfully innovating ways to make her kids shine. This attitude, of course,
transferred over to our mission at Summer Strings as well; the same dedication
and goal of enlightening kids held in terms of music. I listened to the
students, their family backgrounds, habits, quirks, and nuances in hopes to
learn more about them and further their potential. I wanted them to love
learning and really think about the world, not just learn to take the SATs.
Soon, I was teaching about eight students per
week and parents had increased their tutoring hours. Mrs. Lin came up with the
idea to showcase students’ creative projects in a fun way, through an
e-magazine. She had compiled an entire CD with ninety pieces of student
writing; after a lot of editing and selecting, I put up Students Speak Magazine. In a matter of a week, tons of kids were
sending in the most professional-looking photo blogs, videos, short stories, piano
performances and tutorials, setting the bar higher and higher for each other.
Each submission was like a gem; so creative and full of life that it couldn’t
help but ask to be shared with the world. Through this endeavor, I also learned
how to use WordPress effectively; lingo like ‘widget’, ‘sticky posts’, ‘tags’,
‘posts’ and ‘pages’ weren’t so alien anymore.
Over time, I noticed
a difference in our kids’ performance and overall attitude towards learning.
Gradually, we were breaking down poor grammar habits and barriers obstructing
their way of enjoying the learning process, such as lack of confidence,
interest in learning, extensive vocabulary, and strong written voice. A handful
of my students have recently become much more motivated to try harder and have
truly evolved into quality learners. Most important to me is the character that
every student developed this summer. Not only were these kids studious – they
were passionate individuals whose hard work, persistence, kindness and positive
attitudes led to great results. I am very proud of them for what they’ve done.
The disappointing
summer turned out not to be filled with sadness, after all. I learned a great
deal; how to be a more motivating teacher, to communicate with both children
and parents, to be a good parent, even more SAT vocabulary, to use WordPress,
to value essential skills like cooking and presenting just as much as SAT techniques,
to ask for help and to be helpful, to stay organized, and to appreciate
kindness and generosity when it comes. Life is unpredictable, and there are
bound to be ups and downs - the only true constant is change. But sometimes, I
suppose, all we can do is put in hard work towards our goals, be grateful for
those who are kind to us, open our minds to inspiration and believe in the
exponential power of learning. The results are more than rewarding.
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