This sums it up

Recently, I've given a lot of thought to what makes somewhere the right fit for me job-wise. I felt a huge window open in the Universe when I gave my notice for my Choral Administrator job. I am happy to be only teaching at this point, but on more than one occasion, I've wondered if teaching at Harvard is really the right thing for me.

The Harvard Magazine just came out and this article really hit home about why this particular school isn't a good fit for me. To save you from reading it (unless you are super interested), the title is "Nonstop" and it goes on to document how Harvard students do too many extracurricular activities in an attempt to build their resume and be the best person they can be. The article touches on the movement of our society towards this über-busy-ness and how parents often begin their child's life by over scheduling them into too many extracurricular events in an attempt to get them into the pinnacle school....Harvard...where the cycle continues. While I have met my share of extraordinary students at Harvard, there is one message that never seems to get across to the students - you might actually have something to learn. If they audition for a singing group and don't get in, they go out and found their own. I know, I know, that's how empires were built, but sometimes, when you get the message of no, the right tactic isn't to plow forward and just make your own way, it is to drop back and see where you need to shore up your sides. Okay, now that I've probably wrongly mixed too many badly worded metaphors, I'll go back to my initial point with this blog entry..

There are those of you out there who are currently rolling your eyes and saying "Uh, Sarah, you are just like that." You wouldn't be entirely wrong, but one thing I think I've learned at least on the intellectual level is that there is such a thing as being too busy. You can have too many things on your plate and the end result is always the same; too much stress, too little sleep, fatigue, burn out and the awful feeling of being stretched too thin. Most of this lesson I've learned from yoga where so much of the practice is meant to encourage being focused in the moment. Being present to life means you actually experience it and can actually say whether you are enjoying it or not, and not just wanting to get through it so you can get to the 19 other things awaiting you.

And, as with most things in life, it is easiest to see your own shortcomings in others. So, I observe this in my students. I see how constantly harried they are. I watch as they get cold after cold, stay up all night long and then wonder why in their voice lessons they can't sing as well, come to their lessons without music because they haven't had time to find it and even if they had, they won't have practiced because there isn't time.

I've realized that there is value for me as a teacher in working at a place where singing isn't necessarily the only thing a student is doing, but it is a top priority. They would take lessons for credit and to progress you have a jury where pieces are to be memorized and performed. I have a desire to do less in life and find it difficult to spend my work time in a place where that is never encouraged.

If I continue in teaching, I'd like to switch to a school where students actually experience life rather than live it as a means to and end of building their resume for whatever next great opportunity comes along next.