A+Person+of+Influence

Notable Lessons

Sitting in a wooden chair with my shoulders drooping and a frown on my face, I have given up. Frustrated, I tell her that I can't do it. It is not humanly possible for me to accomplish this feat. Instead of making me feel even worse than I already did, she looked at me with her kind, brown eyes and said, "All right, We'll do something else now, but in a couple of weeks, you will be able to do it. I have faith in you." It was that kind of support that made me determined to succeed. A couple of weeks later, not only did I accomplish the "feat", but also, I went beyond what I thought was my limit.

This woman is not just someone who has supported and encouraged me for many years. She has not just been a friend who has believed in me even when I wanted to give up. She is not my mother or my sister. She is not a family member, but she is close enough to me to be one. __She is not just my mentor; she is my music teacher.__ **She is my rock.**

Lenore Snow is the teacher who, in fourth grade, placed the flute in my hands and taught me to make music. //She taught my flute to sing.// For the last seven and a half years, Mrs. Snow has played an important role in my life. She has been with me since the beginning of my musical career, even before anyone knew that music would turn out to be the most important part of who I am. Music is my life. Although no one could have taught me to love music, Mrs. Snow helped my love of it to grow by making music fun. She showed me how to place my fingers on the keys and play my first note __(When I first started, it sounded quite dreadful).__ She was the one who crossed off the first exercise in my music book, signifying that I had completed it to near perfection. In the beginning, she was the only one I knew that understood music. My parents didn't know anything about music or the flute, so whenever I had a problem, I went to Mrs. Snow.

It was in the basement of her house where Mrs. Snow told my mom that she thought I was ready to start entering musical competitions and audition for various music groups. That point in time started the journey Mrs. Snow and I would share as she continued to be my teacher. Together we shared my successes and failures. I clearly remember walking out of a classroom after I had performed a solo in front of a judge a couple of years ago. This judge had criticized me so much I had been on the verge of tears. __I remember: trying to control myself, trying not to cry in public, and trying not to embarrass Mrs. Snow.__ When I saw her concerned face I burst into tears. **Mrs. Snow gathered me into her arms like a mother comforts a child after a bad dream.** She wiped the tears from my face and told me not to worry. It was only one person's opinion. I had worked hard perfecting that piece. I just had to focus on the joy music brought me and not get worked up over one audition.

It wasn't until this year that I realized these valuable lessons that Mrs. Snow taught me don't just apply to music. These are life lessons that will help me enormously through difficult times. She taught me that no one plays perfectly all of the time and that I shouldn't get so annoyed at myself for making a mistake. She also taught me that with patience and practice, anything can happen if I want it badly enough. I want to teach music because of her. I want to be for a child what Mrs. Snow is to me. __She is my music teacher - a simple term that means so much more.__