Why Teach?

Music and choir have always been a large part of my life. I started singing in choirs in 4th grade and continued throughout middle and high school. In my junior year of high school, music went from being a hobby an extracurricular activity to a possible career. I did not see myself pursuing music performance because I do not have much interest in solo performing or opera so I thought that majoring in music might not be for me. I knew that education seemed like a better fit for me as I enjoy spending time with kids, especially as a teacher or counselor. I frequently babysat, worked at various summer camps as a counselor or assistant, and volunteered at schools throughout high school. In addition, both of my parents are high school visual art teachers so I have always been surrounded by educators and spent a lot of time in schools. Attending a K-12 private school for all thirteen years, my school environment had always been very academically rigorous. Few of my peers chose to pursue the fine arts in college so I was hesitant in going towards the unknown of performing arts in college. Despite this status quo, my parents, choir directors and college counselors, were very supportive and encouraged me to follow my passion for music.

Many of my aspirations as a teacher come from the model of my favorite teacher and choir director, Mr. Bedford. He was my choir director for five years throughout all of middle school and my freshman and sophomore years of high school. While Mr. Bedford taught me a lot about singing and choral music, what I admired the most about him was the community he created in choir. This community allowed me to learn a lot about myself as an individual, helped me develop life-long friendships, and have a safe place where I could just be myself.

The main reason I want to be a music educator is to help give every child an opportunity to have access to music and the communities that come along with musical ensembles. My main goal as an educator is to create a strong, welcoming community where kids feel safe and are able to express themselves through music. I am most interested in teaching middle school because I think this is a crucial time in a child’s development when they could really benefit from a musical community. Choir can and should be a place where children feel comfortable to express themselves, develop a love for music and singing, and learn good morals and work ethic through musical experiences. One of my goals as a teacher is to give my students a diverse range of repertoire that highlights a range of cultures, musical traditions, and subjects. Teachers have a better chance of keeping their students interested and giving the students the opportunity to emotionally connect to the music if the programming is diverse. The diversity of the program will also appeal to a wider audience of parents and community members. Outside of public teaching, I am interested in working with non-profit organizations that focus on arts education and bringing art and music into their local communities. I know that not all schools in America today, especially elementary and middle schools, are lucky enough to have strong art and music programs. I think it is important to support and become involved with community and non-profit organizations that give children exposure to art and musical experiences they may not get at home or school.