Moving on

"Though you have decided to move on, 

I will always remember you." 

Today marks my final lesson. It felt like any other lesson, but I knew at the end of it, I won't be seeing their faces regularly anymore. After the lessons were over...

I thought of M's first few lessons. Always came in with dirty hands and dirty long fingernails. He absolutely refused to play any song that had any feminine touch to it.

I taught his sister too, J. She was absolutely adorable, humming along as she played with her itty-fingers. J and M came together, and they would take turns waiting for one another. While they waited, they would either draw, read, tumble, or mimic being a turtle with the beanbag.

T, started when he was 3. His mind runs at another level. Today, he recited pi to the one-hundred-seventy-fifth digit after the decimal point in about 30s. Not kidding. I've also learned the rules of Wizards 101, and the trick is to kill the minions before attacking the boss. I've been with T since then, and now he is in 6th grade. Still talkative, and he has incredible potential to do well in piano.

The S family. Started off by teaching the two oldest, D and E, and then when they moved, I drove to their home to also teach, B. They were a sweet bunch too. E was the composer, even played one of his one for a recital. (I would like to insert that his first song was written to me...). B had the cutest lisp, so whenever we would count together, she would say, "one, two, phree" or when she would say my name, it would come out as "Doro-phy." Made me chuckle inside every time.

All of the kids that came through my life, whether for a couple of months or for several years, and each of them taught me different things:

First Piano Recital 2006

1) Don't teach at night, kids fall asleep.
2) Crying is not always a bad thing. Frustration happens.
3) Stickers are the greatest incentive, especially, the scratch-and-sniff ones. Except when they are older and sparkly fishes aren't cool anymore.
4) Singing helps, especially if you and the student sings together.
5) I can't teach violin.
6) An half-an-hour can feel like an hour or ten-minutes.
7) It is possible to fall asleep while teaching....
8) Practice makes permanent, not perfection.
9) Progress requires patients and perseverance.
10) All kids have a sense of imagination, tap into it.

I want to thank my family (if they read this) for bearing with me too. Countless times I've forgotten about teaching when I rescheduled, and it was my parents or my sister who have to deal with it. There were times I would wake up to the doorbell, and my family would have to preoccupy the student while I rushed getting ready. They even changed their study room to the piano room, just so that I can hold lessons without too many distractions. And because they have invested time and money in my own piano lessons, I am able to teach. I know I'm not appreciative enough, but thank you.

Change is not easy for me, but I know that I have to. =)


"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)