Thanks Kelly! (CRR)

Everyone knows of that cliché nightmare, where the kid shows up to his first day of school, and all the students are staring at him, but he has no idea why. Then he hears snickering and sees pointing and whispering, only to realize that he showed up to school in his underwear! How embarrassing would that be, right?! Well... fortunately that has never happened to me. In fact, I've had very positive experiences at school. I've been blessed not to have one traumatizing teacher through the many years I've been a student. On the opposite side of that spectrum, I've had several outstanding teachers, some of which were through extracurricular activities. 

I've taken drum lessons with the same instructor, Kelly, since 6th grade. Not only has he taught me the fundamentals and techniques to playing well, but he has been such an encouragement for me to branch out and play with confidence. Most people who meet me seemed shocked to find out that I play the drums. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, maybe it's because I'm "so innocent and nice", maybe it's because I didn't play publicly, I don't know. I remember being so afraid to play in front of others. I felt like I was being judged, and that I didn't measure up to the skills of other drummers. Kelly noticed that. One thing he told me was that he used to be that way too. But, playing the drum set is kind of like role-playing. I remember him saying something like, "If you have to, pretend you're a different person when you play. Make up a crazy drummer name, like you're even a different character." Not only did he give me a good laugh, but he made me realize that I needed to move past my insecurities and just play. He equipped me with what I needed to gain more confidence. So, even though it was with timidity, I just decided to do it one day; I agreed to play in public. Whether it sounded good or not, I'm not completely sure. But, I ended up playing a ton at youth camp this past summer, and now I play on Sundays with my church worship team and on Wednesdays with my Church's youth group. Kelly taught me to not let fear get in the way of what I enjoy doing. I've came a long way, with much thanks to a fantastic teacher.