When I was three years old my mom used to play music in the car while driving me to swimming lessons. She would play the songs she liked to listen to but then she would ask me what I wanted. I always wanted to listen to “Jessie’s Girl.” Not many three year olds would say that but I knew that I liked that song. It went from her playing songs to me in the car to her buying me a little Disney karaoke machine when I was five. Shortly after that, she would watch “shows” my friend and I would make up to our favorite songs. My mom always showed me that music was something fun to have around but I never took it as anything more serious until my high school chorus teacher, Mr. Jeff Nesseth, showed me how much more could come out of it. As I grew older
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Nesseth came into my life, everything I had ever known about music changed. It was still fun to me but he “raised the literacy stakes in struggles for competitive advantage” (Brandt 89.) My view of music went from something I could dance or sing obnoxiously loud to, to something that I had to work for. It was if I had to re-learn the threshold concepts I had learned when I was little. Like Brandt says, without these basics I would have never gotten any further with my knowledge. I knew what notes and lyrics were but I had no idea how to read them and without these you can’t have music. At first, I was diffident because there were students that had so much more experience. With Mr. Nesseth, he helped me use the basic knowledge I already had and showed me a whole other world. For two years he was the person that introduced me to so many things like musicals and different ways to use my voice in our chorus class. After listening to his teachings, it sparked some sort of exigence in me and in those two years I became involved in the school musicals, something I never would have been able to do if I hadn’t had him as a sponsor. Brandt also mentions, “the lengths people will go to secure literacy for themselves.” In this case, my literacy was my access to music. I did everything I could to be a part of it as much as possible including talking to my school principal and counselors when they told me no. Mr. Nesseth also pushed with me to get me enrolled in chorus …show more content…
When it became my junior year of high school, my mom said that if I didn’t audition for the musical I would have to get a job. She probably wouldn’t have made me but she knew how much I really wanted to this but I was too scared. Right after that conversation I went into the music room to talk to Mr. Nesseth and he gave me all the information I would need because he also really wanted me to do it. This turned into the best two years of my life because I was pushed harder than I thought I could be. Brandt says that, “Literacy sponsors are not always altruistic,” and this couldn’t be truer in my case. In order for a “student” to really learn and grow, this needs to be the case and looking back on it, I am very fortunate to have gotten that. Because music had been so important to me since I was little, having people like my mom and Mr. Nesseth encouraging me to be a part of something I loved was really something special. They probably played a part in me choosing my major in the entertainment industry as well. Having music as a constant in so many ways thanks to them really showed me that it’s what I really enjoy. It’s so important to me that I had positive people to look up to when it came to
Nesseth came into my life, everything I had ever known about music changed. It was still fun to me but he “raised the literacy stakes in struggles for competitive advantage” (Brandt 89.) My view of music went from something I could dance or sing obnoxiously loud to, to something that I had to work for. It was if I had to re-learn the threshold concepts I had learned when I was little. Like Brandt says, without these basics I would have never gotten any further with my knowledge. I knew what notes and lyrics were but I had no idea how to read them and without these you can’t have music. At first, I was diffident because there were students that had so much more experience. With Mr. Nesseth, he helped me use the basic knowledge I already had and showed me a whole other world. For two years he was the person that introduced me to so many things like musicals and different ways to use my voice in our chorus class. After listening to his teachings, it sparked some sort of exigence in me and in those two years I became involved in the school musicals, something I never would have been able to do if I hadn’t had him as a sponsor. Brandt also mentions, “the lengths people will go to secure literacy for themselves.” In this case, my literacy was my access to music. I did everything I could to be a part of it as much as possible including talking to my school principal and counselors when they told me no. Mr. Nesseth also pushed with me to get me enrolled in chorus …show more content…
When it became my junior year of high school, my mom said that if I didn’t audition for the musical I would have to get a job. She probably wouldn’t have made me but she knew how much I really wanted to this but I was too scared. Right after that conversation I went into the music room to talk to Mr. Nesseth and he gave me all the information I would need because he also really wanted me to do it. This turned into the best two years of my life because I was pushed harder than I thought I could be. Brandt says that, “Literacy sponsors are not always altruistic,” and this couldn’t be truer in my case. In order for a “student” to really learn and grow, this needs to be the case and looking back on it, I am very fortunate to have gotten that. Because music had been so important to me since I was little, having people like my mom and Mr. Nesseth encouraging me to be a part of something I loved was really something special. They probably played a part in me choosing my major in the entertainment industry as well. Having music as a constant in so many ways thanks to them really showed me that it’s what I really enjoy. It’s so important to me that I had positive people to look up to when it came to