Play the Sunset

Tonight I decided I would watch the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. Now, I've seen this movie many times before, but not since graduating from High School. As I was watching it tonight a few things came to my realization.

The first is this: I might actually miss playing the violin. I always liked orchestra. I loved that feeling I would get when we would play a song that finally came together after months and months of drilling and counting and rehearsing. It gave me goosebumps.
Anyway, my senior year of High School we played "An American Symphony" from Mr. Holland's Opus. It was probably one of my favorite things we ever played in orchestra. Watching the movie tonight and hearing the score brought back great memories of playing those songs and being part of a huge group.
There is no way I could mention the orchestra without mentioning the man behind it all. Sam Tsugawa. We always joked about how strict and tough he was in the classroom, and it was no secret that Sam got what Sam wanted. And what a blessing that was. Without that guy, our orchestra would have been NOTHING. He genuinely cared about every one of his students and I've never met a man more dedicated to his profession than he was, and still is. And holy cow, he may be the only short brown man that can make me more frightened than a small nun at a penguin shoot. In a good way, of course. :)

The other thing I realized from watching this movie was that I'm terrified to be a teacher. I have this fear that I'll be like the Mr. Holland at the beginning of the movie: boring and disliked. While I'm scared out of my wits, I'm also extremely excited. I have the opportunity to teach. To have an impact on a young person's life. Kind of enpowering, right?! I've had so many teachers that have inspired me and I just hope that one day I can do the same.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the movie:

"A teacher has two jobs. To fill young minds with knowledge, yes, but more important: give those minds a compass so that knowledge doesn't go to waste."

[End of cheesy post]