Patience is a Profession

True, patience is a virtue.
What you might not have known is that it is synonymous with teaching -- or, at least, with good teaching.

I am blessed to study with an exceptional pianist and teacher. She was a child prodigy, she has won awards at international piano competitions, and she has served on faculty at one of the most prestigious schools in the United States for over thirty years. She's kinda a big deal.

And she is one of the most patient and unassuming people I have ever met.

Enter me. (Not a big deal.)
I studied at a small program, I have a lot of holes in my background, I have a lot to learn.

She could simply have told me that she's too busy. (Ain't nobody got time for that!)
She could have taken the easy route and ignored my weak areas.
She could have said I don't have what it takes.

Never once have I heard a comment like this. While she is certainly a most honest individual ("You won't get into grad school playing like that!"), she addresses each of my weaknesses proactively and gives me the tools to be successful. I am never more exhausted than after my hour and a half lesson; it is non-stop mental and physical work.

There have been many times when I have felt like a five-year-old sitting in her living room; this is not because she is degrading or condescending, but because I see the reality that I should have learned this when I was five! Instead of throwing up her hands in frustration, she digs deeper and fights in the trenches with me.

She tells me that I'm not that old, and that I can fix bad habits.
She says it's going to be hard, this whole grad school process, but there's no reason I can't do it.
In no way does she guarantee that I will always be successful or achieve every dream, but she fights for me.

A good teacher fights for his students.
He has nothing to prove, but desires the best for each of his students.

It's hard to be a recipient of such phenomenal teaching without reflecting on my interaction with my own students.

How quickly do I give up on students? (Too bad she didn't learn this earlier.)
How frequently do I tire of repeating the same thing a zillion different ways? (When are you going to get this?!)
How readily do I embrace their weak areas? (After all, I've had a long day.)

While I do love my job, I see that I am prone to impatience in many areas. The irony is appalling. If anyone has reason to exhibit patience, I do, for I have received great patience.

I can't help but think of Jesus' words in the parable of the forgiven servant. A king forgave his servant an enormous debt, but the servant immediately turned around and demanded his own servant repay a trivial debt.

"Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy of your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' " (Matthew 18:32-33)

Shouldn't we, as recipients of Grace, be gracious to those around us? I'm finding this means patience in my job, but the applications are endless. I have been blessed, and I want to be a blessing.

Entering Employment

I am an employee!

Why is this a big deal?

Well, this may come as a shock to some of you, but I've never been employed.

I have always worked for myself, and that was just fine for me. My dad is a small-business owner, and he instilled a love of entrepreneurship in me from a young age. At age nine, I started a pet siting business in my neighborhood with my best friend, Tali. It was first named "First Capital Pets" in honor of my dad's business (which was similarly named, minus the animal nuances). We were really into this business - for a long time. After some brainstorming, we cleverly renamed our company "Dog-gone Purrfect Pet Sitting," and used the slogan, "Your pet can stay in the comfort of its own home."

We made iron-on Ts with our name and slogan.

We had binders with all our customers' names and numbers.

We created reference lists and rode our bikes around the neighborhood attaching these flyers on the outside of mailboxes.

We called frequent customers if we hadn't heard from them in a while. Hullo? Did you know we're still in business?

We set up a booth at our park fair.

We billed our customers with company invoices - with our letterhead and everything!

This kept us busy all through the holidays and summer break. We even had weekly jobs that gave us a steady income. We were rolling in the dough for elementary-schoolers!

We kept all this up quite well throughout middle school. As high school rolled around, I began to tire of all the work. Keeping an organized, well-oiled business is not easy! Remember also, that we didn't have licenses or vehicles. During the day, we often rode bikes or walked to our jobs, but in the evenings we relied on parents or my older sister. (Thank you, Julia!) I'm fairly certain that the only reason my parents allowed me to get my license at sixteen is that they were weary of driving to pet sitting jobs. This is proven by the fact that I was only permitted to drive in the neighborhood for the first three months after obtaining my license. By the time college rolled around, I was trying to give away pet sitting jobs. I was entirely burnt out and swore I wouldn't get a dog for years and years (famous last words!).

Backtrack to high school, when my parents began receiving questions like, "Is that your daughter who plays piano? Does she teach, too?"

And thus began my second business. I taught a few students here and there during high school, but business truly took off my freshman year of college. Since I lived at home and spent a great deal of time practicing, I was my own advertisement! Win-win! This was the perfect job for my college years; I had such little time to give, but the payoff was more than enough to cover for my car and food expenses. I don't think I will ever outgrow this job - only grow into it more as I rediscover and uncover and invent new ways to be a better teacher and business owner. I do my own bookkeeping through Excel, send regular email updates to parents, update my website, and require registration forms. I also have an updated policy list, which I require parents and students to sign, indicating they have read and understood the terms.

I love teaching, and I love being responsible for myself and my students. For whatever reason, I have had difficulty growing my home studio this year. It could be tied to my relocation. In no way have I exhausted marketing techniques or even come close my to pet sitting business self-promotion efforts.

But then I heard of a job opening. I applied, interviewed, auditioned, and signed a contract.

I became an employee for the first time.

In the meantime, something else was brewing. Next thing I knew, I had signed my second W-9.

I became employee for the second time. In two weeks!

The best part of all of this is that I get to keep my home business. Woah! Three jobs at once! (I don't want to just skim over the fact that this is all the work of Jehovah Jireh! He has truly met all our needs and more! We are blessed and thankful.)

I am now on the faculty at a local music conservatory. I will teach private lessons at the conservatory at least two days a week. They handle all of the financial side of things, and I arrive for my scheduled lessons. I am excited about this, because there seem to be performance openings for me, as well! The faculty gives concerts for the students, and I will be able to play some of my graduate repertoire.

My second job is quite interesting. Quite simply, I will be a ballet studio accompanist. The dancers will dance to my music. Today I sat down with the studio director and learned all about the ballet order of things and what time signatures I need for each segment. I am responsible for choosing and preparing the music. While I think that this will be quite a bit of work in the beginning, I feel that the experience will be well worth the trade. I am excited to broaden my skills as a pianist; additionally, it will be wonderful performance practice, since I must be performance-ready for class two nights a week.

So I guess you can say change is in the air. I love this time of year: the school supplies in the aisles, the new schedules, the new beginnings. I have had a wonderful, busy-in-other-ways spring "semester," but I am anticipating the advent of the new school year with great delight!