As a child, I daydreamed a lot. I had an active imagination playing out in my mind, especially if I’m not watching Cantonese TV dramas and movies with my grandma over lunch or dinner. Then at about seven years old, I started learning to play the piano at my cousin’s teacher’s local home studio. It is a glorious feeling to express my emotions through music without words! Every day, after school and homework, I would sit at the piano and practice. I enjoyed the feeling of nailing a passage of music to perfection…into muscle memory. If I wasn’t so self-conscious, I would’ve given myself a high five right at the piano bench.
Joining music theory class to learn about key signatures, chord structures, and biographies of composers of different eras is my most interesting class of the week. My teacher also hold weekly Friday evening recitals so she could critique our performance. Sometimes, she would ask an older student to peer critique. It keeps us actively listening and not sleeping through the performances. It also helps us get past any stage fright because we’re performing in front of an average of 10+ peers whose ages range from 7 – 18 years old.
Arriving early to these music theory classes and performance recitals, I would help set up the 8-chair rows with a gap in the middle as an aisle. This way, we can practice taking a bow and walking back to our seat. Snacks and refreshments preparations include making the punch. The punch is made up of frozen pineapple chunks (as ice), a half gallon of orange or lime sorbet and a liter of lemon lime soda (usually Canada Dry). Empty all these ingredients into a glass punch bowl and stirring it all together with a ladle gives me the privilege of tasting the drink first.
My piano teacher is now a friend and mentor. Her life seems so ideal: self-employment with the privilege of setting her own hours and lesson rates. Lessons are typically afternoon or evening on weekdays as well as Saturdays. Little did I know, this career stems from necessity and not entirely from passion. I’ll be the first to say, this is shocking news to me because she is my best teacher. My middle school band teacher asks if I would consider joining his choir. He sees that the exploratory class of trumpet lessons did not match my abilities in 5th grade. I’m so grateful that he recognizes it. I show up in his class, stand on the first level of the riser and the rest is history. I sing as if I am alone in the room. From then on, my classical music foundation and Broadway musicals merges onto a beautiful harmony that would be my adolescent.
Moving away from the school that hosts my first choir is difficult. But, onwards and upwards! I join the high school concert choir as a Soprano in my freshman year. As a sophomore, I auditioned and was accepted into the all-female show choir ensemble. I didn’t share it with anyone at the time but my memory starts to slip. I forgot lyrics during my a cappella audition. How embarrassing! Memorizing a whole piece for piano seems daunting too. It used to take me a few months to learn and absorb a piece into muscle memory. As a teenager, it took me years and I would still blank out at certain passages. At that point, I knew my solo piano competition days were over. Luckily, show choir gave me a group effort and the distraction of choreography if I ever forgot the lyrics.
Having wonderful music teachers to lean on throughout my learning journey gives me the desire to engage, connect, and understand others at a deeper level. I mean, as deep as teenagers can be at that point. As an easygoing personality that dislikes conflict, I blend into groups with ease. I learn how to listen while keeping my internal judgment to myself, unless asked. I remember thinking as long as it wasn’t about me or damaging to others, I’ll allow it.
Having great role models in the form of teachers, inspires me to become one. Being a commuter college student, I felt isolated and detached. As such, I dropped out and started working in office jobs. After 18 years of desk jobs being office assistant to customer service to bookkeeper to corporate accountant, I’ve built enough of an office career.
I’m starting a new chapter by entering into the classroom. Leading a classroom of preschoolers to be specific. I accepted an offer to be an Instructional Aide for the 2023-2024 school year at a local school union district! I’m looking forward to the opportunity to be a role model and aide to students, teachers, and families. I want to help students develop a love of learning. The love of learning is something of a hobby of mine. Learning something new, trivial or important, gives me a sense of daily progress.
I didn’t know it at the time but my childhood dream was to be a teacher. Being a role model to others can be quite vague of a description as it’s a mindset of being a leader. We can lead from right where we are to whoever is around us.
Now that you’ve read about my story, what was your childhood dream? Did your dream change? Are you living the dream now? If not, when would you like to start living the dream?
@BonzColoring 