A letter to my amazing band director:

When I was in 8th grade, you walked into our band room and listened to us play horrendous middle school “music” and critiqued us, giving the notes we needed to hear.

I was terrified. You were the high school director, the one and only, and I was a very small trumpet player in a room full of brass members not much unlike myself. I was kinda new to that whole experience.

Even if I was in a group of students bigger than all of my classes, I was still nervous to play knowing you’d be listening critically. I think you could tell we were scared because you assured us that one day we'd be at the high school level with a little bit of practice.

I finally joined marching band in sophomore year with two of my best friends. I was in concert band all of freshman year but had been too scared to join because I didn't know anyone. You claimed to not remember, but you bribed us with a cheeseburger to join. Many, many rewrites later our show was complete and we were successful (as always), but we couldn't have gotten there without your constant help.

That year was a major learning experience for me. I struggled to do even the most basic of things; I was not the most coordinated kid out there. For a first-year marcher, the show we did was hard. Like really hard.

As difficult as it was, I loved it. You endlessly encouraged me to be better, and in the end, I was. I made friends, learned more than I could imagine, and had a lot of great experiences.

My junior year, I grew a lot as a person over the course of the school year. I had friendships and relationships fall through and I saw which people really stood by me. This was one of my worst moments in all of high school because I was so confused, lost, and generally upset.

But through it all, you never once judged me (or let on any visible signs that you did), you were still the same caring teacher I had always known. And it was very greatly appreciated when all I could focus on were the icy glares and false rumors that spread like wildfire.

Next school year rolled around and I was at a loss as to how I was already a senior. There was a moment when I actually debated signing that commitment form again because of a particular person, but you couldn't have been better about talking to me and being overall very supportive.

If you hadn't had been there to be the voice of reason, I'm not sure I would have done it again. But I'm glad I did. Now was my turn to be a bit more of a leader, even if I was scared to do so. The whole season flew by in the blink of an eye. Grand champs for the entire season? I’d say that’s pretty great.

We couldn't have gotten there without you constantly pushing us to go in the right direction, even when we were constantly going in the wrong one.

One of my favorite memories will always be our entire band dancing in the stands to our warm-up song with all of our hearts at one of the last competitions and looking down to the field to see you smiling up at us.

Through the years you saw me both struggle and triumph with many things. Most people wouldn’t think that something as simple as playing a B flat scale in front of your peers could be scary, but for me it was.

It didn’t take you long to figure out I had major performance anxiety when I had to play by myself or in a small group.You did so much to accommodate me and make me comfortable when those situations rolled around. I never took the chance to tell you when I was still in high school, but I couldn’t thank you enough for being so supportive and understanding.

It really was the little things you did that went above and beyond just being our teacher and director. There was one night at a football game we were walking back to the band room in travel lines and I think you knew I was having a hard night.

I doubt you remember, but you came up beside me as I was walking and started quoting Forrest Gump in maybe the most spot-on impression that I had ever heard. It was such a small gesture, but it made me laugh and that moment meant more than you could possibly know.

This part I’m sure you already know, but most of our band regarded you as a father like figure. We did see you more than we saw our own parents during marching season, after all. You looked out for our best interests 24/7 and were always there for us, even offering some much-needed life advice when asked or prompted.

We were all so happy for you when you announced that you were adopting your own child that we weren’t even mad that you’d be missing so much class time. I know you’ll be a fantastic dad because of the way you treated all of us even though we weren’t actually your kids.

By the way, I still always listen to "With Heart And Voice"on loop whenever I’m having a rough day, or when I just want to relax. And I will never ever forget the "Lollipop Speech" for the rest of my life.

From 8th grade to the start of my freshman year of college, you were there through all my awkward moments, embarrassment, and victories. It was always a pleasure being in your class. I miss your presence already.

Wishing you the best with everything,

Sincerely,

a student who really appreciated everything you did as our teacher and life mentor