Photo uploaded from Snappa.com December 2024

It’s the reflective time of year, where the days get shorter, we cuddle up with a hot cup of cocoa and we settle in to think about the year that’s passed (or almost passed). For me as a solstice baby, it’s a particularly contemplative time, and especially so this year as I approach my 65th birthday (how the heck did THAT happen?). But it’s also a time when I ask my students to hand in reflective assignments where they are asked to take stock of what their challenges were and whether they surmounted them, as well as imagining what the next steps might be and how to execute them.

I am reminded by their musings of the many obstacles we all encounter–each one of them is unique, each struggle, each triumph so personally felt. I particularly love working with this group of people, aged 17-22 (or thereabouts–some of them are older, and their self-awareness can be that much greater depending on life experience), because as they progress through their degree, they pass through a crucible of becoming. This act of transformation is so poignant, so powerful. There is so much they must overcome. They inspire me with their resilience and resourcefulness, their willingness to dig in and grow, even when it is hard.

I’ve had students weather mental health crises, bereavements, myriad learning challenges, professional and personal disappointments, crushing artistic defeats. They falter, they fail. But almost all of them rise again, somehow finding the courage to carry on and fight another day. They love making music (most of them), and they want to improve. They learn to investigate their challenges, and they find and practice solutions. They are eager to make their mark and do good in the world, and they do.

These days it can be hard to find hope, but I see it in these young folks who are striving to be better in what they do. The learning can be hard, even painful, but they choose to overcome, again and again. So that they can become.