When did you know?

When did you know?

With the new year comes time for pause, reflection and evaluation. What have I accomplished and what would I like to accomplish? It has motivated me to be a better father and husband. A better teacher. It has motivated me to spend more time reading and in reflection and prayer.

And, it has made me think about the time I knew that music would be my "it" thing.

Recently, I asked this question on my Facebook page. I loved some of the responses:

"After I taught my first private lesson."

"When I asked myself if I could live without playing my instrument."

"When I student taught."

One response even cited the importance of one pivotal teacher in that person's life. That's powerful affirmation to those of us who teach music!

For me (and for many others who responded), it was when I was in middle school and we had a speaker come discuss career choices with us. The experience is pretty well burned into my mind: it was in our science classroom at Nimitz JH in Tulsa, OK. The speaker was a local professional who was tasked with speaking objectively about what possible careers we could endeavor in.

At the end, we were allowed to ask questions. One of my classmates asked "What's the best job? Doctor or lawyer?" Yes, we all had wanted to know the answer to that question! In fact, it had been our lunchtime debate when we knew that that day was "career day."

His response literally changed my life: "The best job is the one that doesn't seem like work. If you can find that one thing that you love to do more than anything else and figure out how to get paid for it, you'll never feel like you're even working."

I know for a fact that his answer disappointed several of my friends. They really wanted him to settle that bet between doctors and lawyers! But for me, it was that watershed moment when I knew that music would always be a part of my DNA.

What I spoke in my mind is still vividly planted there: "I love Band. I love hanging out in the Band Hall. I should probably just find a way to do Band for the rest of my life because I love it so much." From that point on, I knew that I would go to school for a Music Ed degree, become a Band Director, teach and yes, hang out a LOT in the Band Hall.

Of course, my life's trajectory has included performing, composing & arranging, conducting and involvement in music well beyond just Band. But the essence of my career existence still can be traced back to that moment in middle school, when that socially-awkward 7th grader realized that everything I'd ever want to do with my life would be based around Music.

In fact it sounds so good, I think I'll go hang out at the Band Hall today.