Like most brand new teachers preparing for their very first day of school, I carefully combed through the teacher store back in August looking for the perfect bulletin board decorations, stickers, resource books, and other miscellaneous classroom needs. As I stood spinning a rack of inspirational posters, I happened upon one which I immediately pulled out to purchase. "Today is a great day to learn something new," the bold black letters stated. Ahhh, the perfect message to send to my students this year. Now I know what you are thinking.....wow, you're cheesy. Yes thank you, that is one quality that makes me an elementary teacher type. Despite the fact that I knew that my students and I would not necessarily skip through the door each and every day feeling that it was indeed the best day ever to learn brand new things, I like the whole glass half full, looking on the sunny side optimism thing pretty well. So into my stack of purchases and finally into my classroom went this poster and peppy motto.
There are a million things I love about being an educator, but one reason why I'm drawn to the profession is that I myself enjoy being a learner. Perhaps it was my years spent at a small liberal arts college that pushed me to develop this mindset, but I truly yearn to continue learning and growing as an individual through every day, year, and stage of my life. They say that "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" and I know that I'm not anywhere near old, but I've found that people of all ages will leave behind a dream or idea simply because they think they have outgrown it. Do I need to pull the poster off the wall and flash it in front of you? Today IS a great day to learn something new!
Back when I was in middle school, I begged my parents to buy me a guitar. I was determined that I would take lessons and learn to play the instrument. When Christmas morning rolled around, I was elated to find an acoustic guitar tucked beneath the tree. I promptly joined the guitar club at school, but very soon like I expect is the case of instruments in a majority of homes, it found its resting place in the back of my closet where its only companion was the dust that began accumulating atop the case. My high school and college years rolled by and although I still had a desire to learn to play this instrument, I simply did not have the time for it.
Flash forward to December 2009. While looking around my old room at home during Christmas break, I pulled out my old guitar. Pretty soon, the wheels were turning and I decided that the perfect New Years resolution would be to give myself and my guitar a chance. After looking up guitar places on the internet, I found one in a convenient location and called just to simply gain a little more information. By the time I had hung up the phone, the guitar teacher had signed me up for lessons that were to begin in only a few weeks. Suffice to say that leading up to my first lesson, I was dreading carrying my guitar into the shop. I wondered, "Do grownups really take guitar lessons? Is this guy going to think I'm crazy?"
I'm happy to say that a few months later, I'm still a guitar student bumbling my way through chords and strumming patterns....and it's wonderful. During my lesson each week, I have found such immense happiness in working with my love for music. (I've also found out during these months that I am nowhere near the teacher's oldest student. Whoever she is, though, I like her attitude on life!) If I hadn't have picked up the phone and signed up for lessons that day, I can imagine that my little guitar would still be collecting dust. I may never perform in front of large crowds or become what anyone would dare call a talented guitar player, but that's of no consequence. For me, it's about the fact that I didn't let an old dream simply remain a cloud far off in the sky. What's your "guitar in the closet"? Isn't it time you dusted it off and gave yourself the opportunity to embrace the joy of trying and maybe just exceling at something new? Who knows, you might just find that it's never too late to begin because, after all, today is a great day to learn something new!
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