A couple of weeks ago the Foundation had been having some bad luck setting a date for a concert for the Director of Culture. Whether it was rain (and there was a lot of rain) or timing, we just couldn't seem to get this concert going. Finally, after about three weeks of postponing, we had the concert.
The day started with a text message from the orchestra director saying that he was just not going to be able to make it. He was very sorry but he had accidentally injured himself and could not walk. He had also been sick all week and the poor guy had been worried all week about the concert and getting another rehearsal in before the big day. The other teachers and I had been working hard all week in sectionals trying to prepare so I knew the string parts but I still shocked myself when I volunteered to conduct the orchestra without a score- there was no score- and without having rehearsed the whole group. When I got off the phone my heart stopped because it hit me what a task this would be.
After a day of delays and preparation, we finally got to the concert hall. I got up and conducted each of the pieces once through before the concert started. I was barely holding myself together but I knew I needed to for the kids. Conducting was never my strong suit and especially not when I wasn't totally prepared. But I knew that this was not about me. It was about the kids and it was their time to shine. We ended up having to the play the orchestra pieces again because the Director arrived late but at the end of the day, it was a huge success and the kids looked so happy. I could not have been prouder of my students.
I am a very organized person and when things do not go according to plan, I often get really bent out of shape. This day taught me that I am capable of adapting when things do not go according to plan. That is a great quality for a teacher to have and in the long run that is what I want to be. A great teacher. It was an amazing feeling at the end of the concert. It was only a small impromptu concert but it felt like such a great accomplishment. It made all of the hard work and aggravation of the previous weeks worth it.
Kids are amazing. They can do anything. And I hope that I will one day be able to ignite their creativity and inspire their great ideas. Teachers have the greatest responsibility of all of the professions in the world. Doctors mend bones and save lives. Engineers build the world around us. Lawyers fight to make society better. But teachers shape the minds of the future. Teachers spend all day with our children molding them into what they will become, igniting their passions, and empowering their brilliance. That is my calling in life- I am a teacher.
