Life

My band teacher, Mr. Holland*, said that he is here to teach us, his students, about music and life. This year, he taught us many things. From how to send an email to knowing what notes we are reading. One of my favorite things he did was he asked us to write down a question for him to answer.

Many asked similar questions, the most popular question was ’why did you come a band

director?’ I didn’t ask this question.

I asked him to tell us a story about him. I was one of the last questions answered and it took him a second to think of one.

This was my second year with him as my director. Honestly, he was. and still is, the best music director I have ever had. I transferred to his class in the middle of my freshman year. My middle school director wasn’t much help to the whole music experience. He didn’t seem to care as much. My first high school director as wasn’t that good at his job.

But when I met Mr. Holland, my life changed.

He taught me more about life and music than anyone in my life. I’ve learned more about breathing then I have in my whole life. There are things called phrases and you should not breathe in the middle of one. If you do, do not breath with the person next to you.

I’ve also learned more about how singing can help get in tune with each other. Last year, we did some and this year we stepped up our game. We sang almost every day for months. Singing did help get us in tune.

But with learning about music, we also learned about life. Life was very important to Mr. Holland. I remember that he taught us how to send an email. He got this email from a past student that was awful that he felt that he should share with us about how to send an email. He told us that is was very important to be formal with our email.

In class, he would ask if we have any questions about life. One kid in class, Arthur, asked about car insurance. He had got his license recently and needed to know how insurance worked so he could get some. Mr. Holland answered the question as much as he could. A few weeks later he asked teh same question and Arthur told him about what he found out about insurance. It was one of those moments that I connected with. We were in a music class and we were answering questions about insurance. It showed me that Mr. Holland dedicatation to his students and he truly want us to succeed in all parts of life.

Because of Mr. Holland, I have learned more about life and music. Music is life and life is music.

Because of Mr. Holland, I decided that I would follow my music and go farther than I would have.

I hope he continues to teach music to high schoolers. I hope he chooses to tell stories about life. I hope he continues to help students reach their fullest.

Thank you to him and all teachers out there who are taking their lessons farther than teaching the information.

*All names have are changed to protect the privacy of the person.