I’ve thought about starting a blog for some time now, but I’ve gone back and forth about what I wanted the first post to be. It seemed so complicated and I felt a lot of pressure to make it amazing, but honestly, I don’t want this to be complicated. There’s a lot of things in this business that are complicated and this doesn’t have to be one of them. So I thought the best first blog post would be about the very thing that inspires me to keep playing my instrument the most: my students.

Dear Students,

Teaching you has changed the way I look at music. I love when you are excited to play, because it makes me excited to play too. When I see you struggle, my day is brighter after we work to help you succeed . You come to me each week with different experiences, moods, and personalities and that helps me grow. When you tell me your ideas, I become a deeper musician. Each lesson is a new experience and I love sharing what has greatly influenced who I am with you.  As I watch your life be shaped by music, you shape my life in return. I know you come to me to learn, but in reality, I learn from you. 

My bond with you is special. It’s not that of a friend, or a parent, but as a mentor to teach you what I have learned from my mentors and my own experiences. I care about what happens to you outside of our lessons, and I know you share things with me that you may not share with others. I listen to you and I take these things home with me. Sometimes that makes my job hard, but I consider myself lucky to have your trust and I don’t take that for granted. 

My hope for you is not to go on and become the next Julia Fischer or Joshua Bell. Don’t misunderstand this: I want you to be inspired. Instead, I want to help you do what makes you the happiest. If that means being a professional athlete, I will teach you discipline. If you want to pursue a business degree and become an entrepreneur, I will teach you time management. If you want to care for others, I will teach you compassion. Should you decide you want to pursue music, I will do everything I can to give you the tools you need. My hope for you is that you leave my lessons with the confidence to tackle any task you face and the self-compassion to let yourself fail. And when you do fail, as all of us do, I hope I will have taught you that you have the courage to get back up and try again when you’re ready. If I can teach you these things, then I will have given back half of what you have given me. 

With love,

Ms. Jenna