Final Session

Because I have now described a full month's worth of the Children's Art and Music Group sessions, I find it is much more important to share what it meant to me to be a teacher, participant, and fellow student of this group throughout its entire development.

In my own life, music has served as emotional outlet for the good, the bad, and everything in between. Happy, sad, angry, or stressed, music has a way of turning my world on its side and freeing me from my own reality. Nearly 20 years later, I cannot imagine my life without music, without this emotional outlet.

To lead the music segment of CRP's Art and Music Group gave me the opportunity to witness young children access this same outlet. For so many of the children that partake in this group, this is the one day and the one hour they can just be. Even if they're not reading music or playing any particular song, they are able to get away from everything negative they have experienced in their pasts and possibly transform that energy into something new. Having overcome so many struggles and having experienced so much trauma so early in their lives, I cannot even begin to imagine the level of internal stress these children come with every week. As a performing musician who often gets frustrated with the little tiny notes written on a page, these children who arrive every Saturday at 2pm to pound on a keyboard have reminded why exactly I love music as much as I do.

As for the art portion of the Art and Music Group, I have to tell a short story in order to convey the true gratefulness I feel for having had the opportunity to work with these children. Approximately two and a half weeks into working at CRP, I considered the possibility of going to visit Damascus, Syria for five or six days. Doing this would have meant that I had to miss one week of the Children's Art and Music Group. After talking with a friend and reflecting on all the possible options, I soon came to a crystal clear conclusion. During my high school years, I was lucky enough to have some of the best teachers in the world. Academia aside, they were the best teachers in the world because they were some of the kindest, nurturing, patient, and most consistent influences in my life at the time and that is exactly the type of teacher I aspire to be. When I took the day to remember how much I looked forward to going to school every day because of these particular people that fully embodied the characteristics mentioned above, there was no way I could go to Syria if it meant not being there for these children. Thinking about all these children have been through, trust is not a simple task, and one that takes a great deal of time. With that in mind, to have the same type of positive influence on these children that so many of my own teachers had on me, I chose to stay. After making this decision I realized that while being a helper for this group may have began as 24 children and a few volunteers, it soon became obvious to me the role I played in every child's life. This role came with the responsibility of being kind, being nurturing, being patient, and being consistent, and for the lesson that came from this responsibility I am most grateful.

CRP's Art and Music Group was about much more then painting a mural or playing a kazoo, it was about taking two hours every week to learn from these children, and being the type of teacher and person that allowed them to learn from me.