Rocky Point Blog

As adults, we often overcomplicate parts of life.  We stress out over things that matter in the moment, but won't matter three months from now.  Is it awesome to get straight A's on your report card?  Yes, it is!  Is it the end of the world if you get one B?  No, it's not.  I think sometimes as adults we sit and focus on that one B and forget about the seven other A's on the page at the end of a school year. Today, as I panicked with only six days remaining until my very first Concert Assessment/MPA performance as a director, my brain was essentially the SpongeBob Clip you see below. I did NOT forget my name, but the vision of my brain on fire, trying to make everything perfect, came into my head today.  There are days I feel like floundering.  Today, I shared that clip, and the animated gif that goes along with it, with my students.  Most laughed, or liked the image, and/or understood what I was going through; however, one student...

Anyone who grew up watching High School Musical will instantly recognize the phrase "Status Quo."  There's no getting around it -- I am different from everyone I interact with on a daily basis.  I don't just mean in age either.  There are little nuances in my personality, quirky ways I execute tasks, and nerdy tendencies I display in conversations that make me who I am (just to name 3 of about a million or so). As humans, we so often chase after being like everyone else.  But, why?  Believe me, I'm preaching to myself here too.  Why do we want to be like "such and such," who is/was great at "such and such?"  "Well that's an easy question," you might respond.  "It is because he or she is/was great at whatever he or she does/did!"  My rebuttal to that rebuttal is... if people just copy the greats who came before them, the world would never progress or get marginally better at anything AND history would repeat itself. A...

This week on "Being an Assistant Band Director," I was observed, sternly talked to, and praised for great work.  It's been a rollercoaster of a week (that's every week, but especially this week).  It's at times like these, and weeks like these, where my thoughts and words can together either figuratively strangle me or raise me up to new heights. I try to reflect on every experience that happens in my life; I want to learn how I can grow from each little nugget of information.  While doing this in my teaching profession is something that comes naturally, it is more difficult to do this within my personal life. It's news to literally no one at this point that I live alone (I have for the past seven months).  Isolation can do a lot of things to our brains.  It can be a great break from the stressors of our day-to-day life.  I love nothing more than to come home to an apartment exactly the way I left it and plop down on the couch, knowing I have no one...

Life has a funny way of dealing us an unexpected hand.  As most of you know, I'm now an Assistant High School Band Director.  Like many folks, this wasn't always the plan I had in mind as I grew up. In my very early years I had an OBSESSION with trains, as many young boys do!   Thomas the Tank Engine was my favorite show; I had the model trains from the show in wood AND metal forms, and many other train accessories.  It even got to the point where I made my parents chase trains around the neighborhood until they disappeared from sight.  I made train sounds, impersonated trains from Thomas, and went on trips to see train museums  —  I was obsessed.  If you had asked me, back then (around 4 or 5 years old), what I wanted to do with my life, I would have told you that I wanted to grow up and become a train conductor or driver.  That plan stayed for awhile too! Fast forward to the end of elementary school.  At this point, camcorders (ye...

As I write this post, I realize that this is the beginning of many new chapters in the journey of my life.  I just hopped off a plane from teaching my very first drum corps camp ever, my second semester of teaching band begins on Tuesday, and I turn a quarter of a century years young on Friday. All of that said, I thought it would be time to open up a new medium to share my thoughts with those who follow me.  By no means to do I feel like I'm the most interesting person in the world, but in the same way that I share vlogs, I feel that I also have words, stories, and longer deeper monologues to type out that could benefit future educators, those in music, or just individuals who need to be encouraged.  The topics contained here are those that I do not feel would best be suited for a vlog style video.  So... here we grow! I've been reading a lot more in 2019 than I have been in any of my adult years.  Currently, I'm reading a book that I think everyone cou...