Realizing how much time I have left to prepare for the final showcase of the Prosper Career Independent Study program, I have learned a lot of things about who I am but also why I want to teach band in the future. 

One day in Mr. Antony Park’s class, I saw some of my friends who were in PCIS and they were presenting and talking about what the class was about. I knew at that moment that I wanted to join PCIS. 

Fast forward to the beginning of my senior year, I had to learn time management in order to plan and prepare for the winter showcase in the winter and final showcase in the spring. 

With my first couple of assignments I waited until the last minute to finish the assignment, which in reality made me turn in not the best work. I felt frustrated when I saw my assignments in rough conditions, when I completed the assignment the night before. 

However, realizing that I had to cold call different professionals during the first semester, and the majority of the time I had on this big project, was during my busiest month of my life, “Bandtober.”                                                           

I remember being super stressed out with assignments for my classes, moving houses during the heart of bandtober and even not trying to slow down the band in the beginning of my quartet ensemble during our marching show, “Shout from the Rooftops”; I did not focus on the cold callings and I remember I had to push myself to get the calls finished to find my mentor. 

With all of the madness, contest season brings, I was able to take time and had the opportunity to go to the PCIS symposium where I met professionals. 

We traveled down on the yellow school buses to the Toyota Headquarters where we were met by some security guards and escorted us to the front of the building. 

In the front of the building where we met the Prosper and Walnut Grove PCIS students and where we checked in with Mrs. Coshari Chacchia, PCIS adviser, there were vintage and brand new Toyota cars showcasing history. 

We went on a tour throughout the headquarters and the architecture of the furniture and design were modern and contemporary to match with the location of Plano, Texas.

The meat of the event was when we were talking to different professionals, and I remember Mr. Terry Mouton was one of the professionals who talked about his career. 

Even though Mr. Mouton’s career as an educator is going to be different from mine. I know that his experience as an educator can help me become a better educator for my future students. 

Music educators, the ones who help students become successful in music, but also educators who grow relationships with their students throughout the students’ musical journey. 

I want to study music education because of my band directors and the relationship between me and them; it really started off with Mr. Nathaniel Neugent. 

Being in the symphonic band applied class with only seven kids makes me remember how much I improved throughout the course of high school as a musician. I remember the love-hate relationship in band because I was scared of playing in front of Neugent. 

This small class, I had to come out of my comfort zone and had to make mistakes in order to get better. I remember that I could not play any of my scales “out of a paper bag.” 

Really there was no paper bag that my scales were in but it is more of a rhetorical statement on why I was bad on my scales. 

In this applied band class, I had to play by myself because the instrumentation was smaller than the normal band class. 

The amazing thing about this small class is that everyone in the class who were freshmen, are now one of the best players in the wind symphony, so this small class benefitted everyone. 

Still to this day, I am still nervous to play in front of Neugent on occasions where I realize that when I’m nervous, I mess up more than playing with confidence. 

This big quote from Mr. Neugent, “confidence breeds success,” is still a big thing that I like to incorporate into my own life. 

But Neugent made me become a better player through giving me my confidence, but supporting me throughout the way. 

His life lessons that I learned from him, also is why I want to become a band director. I want my students to learn lessons to help them grow as a person and to inspire others in their own lives. 

After experiencing the cold calls and interviewing different band directors in the area, I enjoyed talking to Mr. Jeremy Linquist, who later became my mentor. 

The conversation was short, however I was able to learn alot about who he is but also why he wanted to become a band director. 

Mr. Lindquist is actually best friends with Neugent and they have been friends for more than 25 years. Lindquist was actually the assistant director at Creekview High School in the early 2000s, when Neugent was the head director. 

The funny story is that Mr. Lindquist was supposed to be my middle school band director in Coppell but I moved to Prosper instead.

So there is a small world connection between Mr. Neugent, Mr. Lindquist and myself. 

And I am super excited to work with Mr. Lindquist because he will give me similar knowledge that Mr. Neugent gives me on a normal day. 

The really cool part of this mentorship is that I will be able to continue to talk and connect with Mr. Lindquist, in my college years but as well in my future careers.

PCIS is a beneficial class that will help students just like me to learn about their career industry and have a mentor that will support them, not only in the program but future career opportunities. 

When looking back through my progress in the program, I realized that PCIS is there to help me become more professional but also give me confidence to build up, so I can succeed, just like Mr. Neugent gave me throughout my high school years.