story: my job

a cake from Awfully Chocolate from one of my students for helping her pass her Grade 7 piano exam

How I decided to study music was quite accidental. Well, I had started learning at the age of 5 at Yamaha Music School's group classes, and after that from age 6 or 7, I went to a private tutor. Through the years, through moves to the US and the UK and back to Singapore, I never stopped classes, or taking the ABRSM exams. 

Did I like practising? No, I hated it up till Grade 5. And then it was like magic. I started loving it. Perhaps it was a mixture of nearing my teen years as well as getting technically more secure, that practising became a time of solitude and rest. I got pulled into the world the composer made for me.Was I the kinda kid who practised for 2 hours straight? Nope. ;) I had no patience. 

But thankfully, I had a good teacher who drove home the importance of good technique and note reading from the beginning. So learning pieces was easier and quicker. Up till uni, I don't think I practised for more than 3 hours a day. I had friends and classmates practising way more than that.

After my grade 8 and secondary school, I tried out Business Admin at a polytechnic. OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS BORING. I didn't last half a year. (But I did meet a very good friend there!) So my dad suggested that I learn music, since I was decent at it and he didn't want me to study something else I had in mind. 

So I did. It wasn't enjoyable. I thought I'd made a big mistake but it was too late to turn back. I'd already made one mistake. So I carried on. After I was done with my diploma, I took a break for a year and worked really hard. And then carried on with my bachelor via distance learning. 

I decided after a year that I would go for the uni's summer school, and the rest is history. The following year, I headed over to Australia and finished up my degree. It was a fantastic year. Well, ok, the final semester really did me in, I was so stressed out by the amount of work, I broke down in front of a lecturer one afternoon at my harpsichord lesson. Thankfully, he walked me through my fears and I managed to organize my time and work properly after. 

When I came back, I went straight into teaching. I actually pretty much hated it. Perhaps it was the transition from full time student to the full responsibilities of work. I was short tempered and demanding on my students. Ashamed to say it, really. But I was actually good at my job. 

It sounds like bragging but it isn't really, cos I didn't like my job. I went through years of asking myself if I should have insisted on doing something else. All my peers were going on to office jobs, travelling for work, meeting new people. And at the same time, I was helping my students get Merits and Distinctions for their exams and getting beginners improving really quickly. I've met my share of unappreciative, crazy and very unreasonable parents (just got one recently, who has since quit) over the years too. Those didn't help.

As the years went on, I think it took hardship in my personal life, as well as having a child before I mellowed and learnt how to handle children and teenagers. It took me nearly 5 years into my job, but now I can say with all my heart, I LOVE my job.

What I have realized is, it's not teaching the kids and their achievements that made me look at my job in a different way. It's the appreciation and trust from the parents and their kids, some who have been with me for almost 9 years; the relationships I build with these families, those are priceless.

With new students, I have met some wonderful children and families, who allow me to guide their children freely to my strengths, and understand my family. I can honestly say that I love every single family I know and every child/young adult I teach. 

The cake in the photo above is from a girl I started teaching when she was 6 or 7, and she is 16 this year. There were 2 years she continued at Yamaha after I left, but she came back to me after. Through hard work on her part and a lot of pushing on mine, she passed her grade 7 piano exam well in March this year. I am so proud of her. 

She surprised me with the cake last week. To be appreciated when so many don't appreciate teachers of the arts in Singapore meant more to me than she knows. And I don't get gifts too often, so this really made me happy. :)