Final Paper #3

The Journey

             “When you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, that’s when you’ll be successful.”  This quote has been so inspirational in many ways to many people.  You can use it as far as everyday life experiences take you.  Learning how to play the guitar was both a challenging task and a life lesson.  Teaching one’s self to learn how to play the guitar takes a lot of time and effort as well as patience, which a lot of society lacks.  There are many people who do not even bother trying because laziness comes into effect.  A lot can be taken from grueling yourself though.  Learning how to play an instrument can link back to an in-school experience because you learn to challenge yourself, build up self-esteem, and gain a sense of responsibility; although the task may be a rocky process, it is well worth it in the end.

            Everyone needs to learn to challenge themselves.  There are various reasons as to why people are shaped into the person they are today.  We all have both strong and weak qualities and a lot of the times choose to look past the weak ones.  One strong quality good to have though is to push as far as one can go.  In the movie Dead Poets Society, English professor Mr. Keating tells the boys about carpe diem and they must “Seize the day.”  A tattoo many people have today.  People fail to realize nowadays how easy it is to fall into bad habits and not try.  You can gain a lot from challenging yourself and have an upper hand when trying more things.  Think of it as working on a homework assignment for example and immediately wanting to give up just because it looks “hard.”  What good comes out of not even bothering to try?  That’s like giving up just because you didn’t tune your guitar correctly.  Or if you strum the wrong string of the guitar and tell yourself you suck just because of that tiny mistake.  You attain so much out of just challenging yourself and transform into a better person.  Another example could be different projects that come up around the house.  It would be so easy to just say you’ll hire someone but instead why not just give it your best shot?

            Next, self-esteem is built up through it all.  Self-esteem is something very important to have especially through the transition from a kid to a young adult.  Middle school to college years is the time where students feel they have to compete against each other.  They are searching for themselves trying to figure out who they are and who they want to become.  Learning to play an instrument has to require a sense of confidence the more and more as time goes on.  Any musician has to be proud of how much they are growing which can also be considered as an in-school experience.   If students aren’t proud of their work they are unfortunately lacking that self-esteem needed.  But trying and asking for help can link back to being in a classroom.  Sir Ken Robinson once said, “Very many people go their whole lives having no real sense of what their talents may be, or if they have any to speak of.  Sir Ken is such an inspirational man and can inspire just about anyone with his words.  Ken Robinson can truly speak to kids and has this tremendous affect on them that makes them want to go out and be somebody.  In 2006, Sir Ken Robinson filmed a video talking about how school kills creativity.  When thinking about it, it’s true.  The school system nowadays is lacking courses to take that students actually look forward to being involved in.  A lot of states Florida especially, had quite a few electives cut due to budget cuts.  The result then ended with poor excuses for music classes.  Music in general is so inspirational and can speak to you in many ways.   Regardless of if you are learning in a classroom or teaching yourself or even have a friend/ family member teach you, you can have fun with it.

           

            As you transition into a young adult, it is important that your maturity level increases.  There are many reasons as to how you can gain responsibility.  But going back to challenging yourself, you mature from that situation.  Learning how to play an instrument is not easy especially if you are teaching yourself.  You become frustrated when you mess up even if it is the tiniest screw up, it is still simple to want to give up and just tell yourself you are not good enough.  That happens a lot in a classroom.  You may not get the lesson your teacher just lectured or you may have just failed a big test.  Many students drop out because one of the reasons is being failing a class.  The movie Freedom Writers, is a great example to this.  High school teacher Erin Gruwell, had no idea what she was getting herself into when she became an English teacher for both freshmen and sophomores that were all almost involved in gangs.  It may not seem that learning how to play the guitar ties into this movie, but it does.  Going back to what was being said earlier, in order to play an instrument you have to take playing seriously.  You can’t just magically become a musician over night.  It takes time and patience, a lot of it at that.  The more and more you learn, the more you grow from that experience.  Students in Erin Gruwell’s classroom matured and gained a sense of responsibility after taking the class seriously.  Eva, Andre, and Marcus really matured after a reading assignment on the Holocaust.  The Diary of Anne Frank really seemed to hit home for them.  Andre decided to give up on selling drugs, Marcus quit the gang and went back home, and Eva did all she could to stay in school.  Eva didn’t take it easy when finding out Anne Frank died.  But after meeting Miep Gies, it changed her whole aspect on everything.  Eva would stay after school late at night just to get her homework done.  All of them started showing up to class and put an effort into their education.  It was because of Erin Gruwell that they pushed themselves into graduating, some of them being the first in their family.  Some had even gone off to college.  The school system is lacking teachers who truly believe in their students and because of that it is easier for students to want to give up.

            There are many reasons as to how learning how to play an instrument is just as important as an in-school experience.  The three talked about though are reasons as to how you can carry them on later in life.  Everyone has to grow up at some point.  They are going to need to try and to push themselves with a few failures along the way.  But as said so before, it is all worth it in the end.  You receive that feeling of accomplishment once you succeed in your goals.  It may not be an easy journey.  You will find yourself becoming frustrated and disappointed but nothing beats that proud feeling you get inside. 

Dead Poet’s Society.  Dir. Peter Weir.  Perf.  John Keating, Robin Williams .  Touchstone, 1989.   DVD.

Robinson, Ken Sir.  “How Schools Kill Creativity.”  How Schools Kill Creativity. Feb. 2006.  Web.  5 June 2014

Freedom Writers.  Dir. Richard LaGravenese.  Perf. Erin Gruwell, Hilary Swank.  Paramount, 2007.   DVD.