"I have the most wonderful job in the world."

Okay - so I meant to write on this blog a lot sooner than now. And, all of my friends have been showing me up. I am trying to keep up. But . . . all right, all right, no excuses.

First off - cheaters! They got D's, and fought me hard. They thought of every excuse in the book, and made me feel like a complete bad guy. But, when they tried to appeal, the Academic Standards Committee, of course, stood behind me and denied them the appeal.

My last week of school I had two rehearsals (one with an orchestra - that I didn't have to conduct, thank god!), and five concerts for chorus. One was at a Navy Base for their annual Christmas party (and our charity work), two were with the community chorus in Bristol and with a full orchestra (and I had to sing them) and one was for our school (okay - four concerts and a tech for our show), which I of course had to conduct. I got sick. Lovely, right? Great timing? And there was drama. Lots and lots of drama. And I had to finish all of my grades. And of course telling 50 students their grades automatically means drama (so I am learning in my third semester) - tears, blame (on me of course - people failing never take responsibility for their own actions) and anger (again at me). So, it would have appeared to have been the week from hell.

But then . . . drum roll please . . . I had epiphanies. First of all, as a whole, the chorus handled the drama really well. And once they understood what was happening, they rose above it (the drama was more with the community chorus and it was affecting us). I was proud. And then, on Sunday we are waiting to go onstage and . . . well, the technical aspects of this are really complicated, so I will spare you details. But, to make a long story short, I was talking to two students who began to ask me about their voices. We talked for a little while and come to find out they have been grossly misusing their voices on a regular basis (one in particular who wants to major in vocal performance). I worked with her for about half an hour and she was able to speak for the first time that she can remember without feeling pain in her vocal cords.

Then Monday I have a girl from Tennessee come to my office. She had asked me the week before if I could help her learn how to speak in a "Standard American" accent so she could increase her ability to be cast (i.e. turn her southern charm on and off depending on the role she is playing). So, we worked for an hour and a half isolating her sounds and I taught her how to change them. And she was so excited.

Right after that a student who I have been teaching voice to on the down low (and for free) all semester because she is hard working and can't afford lessons came for our last meeting of the semester. She has made improvements that make me tear up just thinking about it. She had horrific vocal habits when she first started coming, but she writes her own music and music is so important to her. She has worked her little hynie off fixing her vocal habits and making unbelievable progress. This was our last meeting of the semester. She hadn't sang her own music all semester because she was afraid of reverting back to her old habits. So, I told her - bring you guitar - and we'll work on your music. She did. We did. And it was so amazing. She was able to stop and correct herself. I was able to give her tips. She was able to sing her own music in a much healthier way (which by the way results in projection, and a rich beautiful sound with NO EFFORT; good singing is effortless). And all I could think as I thought about all of these students coming to me for help, and me being able to give them that was "I HAVE THE MOST WONDERFUL JOB IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD."

And, as icing on the top of the cake, just as we were finishing that, my fabulous chorus officers surprised me by walking in to help me set up for the concert (something I was ready to do alone). And I realized that in the last few weeks, countless students have come to my office not just to cry, blame and make me the bad guy. They have come to my office and asked me to help them figure out what to do with their lives. They have come to my office with their bad habits and asked me to help them undo them. They have to me and asked me to teach them independent study classes next semester (not the more experienced professors). They have come to me and asked me for letters of recommendation. And, they have come to my office to hang out and ask me how I was doing and write cute little messages on my board.

And that my friends, is why I am where I am right now.