“Y” started taking lessons at Smith’s Hashimoto over four years ago. She retired at the same time and started as a pink level student. She has done nothing but amaze me over these years. At the moment she is a very strong green level student, and I attribute it to three reasons. She consistently takes regular lessons, she reads a lot, and sticks to her goals. Last week, at the end of her lesson I was so blown away with what she was able to speak about (origins of Japanese values), so I opened her file and showed her what she did during her first lesson with me (Hello, my name is “Y”). She was beaming and so was I. Naturally she said it was “all my doing,” which we as teachers know isn’t true. We are just a small part of it, really. She did all the work while I coached her along. Congratulations to you Miss “Y.” You make my day!
jim
Jim,
This is so inspiring! This is what it is all about. I know how you feel as I have seen great improvement in many of my students too. But you hit the nail on the head when you said we were only a small part of it. It is the student and his/her effort that determines how far and how fast he/she will go. Still we have to keep them motivated too. It is a symbiotic relationship in many ways and a lot of fun to see a student really excel. Great job!
Al (SSE-Okamote)