There are three main factors that influenced me to become a teacher: I had many teachers throughout the years that devoted their time and energy to my learning and inspired me to want to do the same for others. I had an interest and an innate desire to help others learn and I enjoyed watching them grow. And probably the most influential was my encounter with music education. I began music at an early age of five on the piano. I found a children's music book that taught music by colors and I immediately began to pick out notes on the piano to copy the sounds. I performed my first piece of music at my church shortly after. A piano teacher noticed my love for music and suggested that I take lessons. Those lessons continued for five years until …show more content…
In elementary school, I had no interest in learning and only did what was necessary to be average. I would day dream often and now looking back on it I feel like it was because of a lack of a creative outlet in my life. Joining band helped and after a year or so it taught me responsibility, teamwork and self-discipline. It was different from anything I had ever experienced before; even being a member of the basketball team for three years was no comparison to this. The realization of my profession came in the fall of 1997 when I joined the Coosa High School Marching Band. I decided that I loved music so much, that I wanted to teach others so they could enjoy it and have the same sense of pride and accomplishment that I felt. I knew that I would go to Jacksonville State University, so I applied nowhere else. JSU is well known for their education program and also for their Marching Band the Marching Southerners. My passion of teaching only increased once I delved myself into an all music education atmosphere. I had some amazing professors who were great encouragers and outstanding teachers. I constantly reflect on what I have been taught and what music education means to