Shannon Anderson Interview Essay

As students rush into class, Shannon Anderson, the White Bear South Campus Band Director, sits patiently in her office, wearing her casual band jacket with her last name on it. As students come into her office to ask her questions, she remains calm and is very friendly. “To me, caring for the students is more important than caring about the music”, says Mrs. Anderson while answering questions that range from counting music all the way to relationship advice. Mrs. Anderson’s drive for music became present while she was in band in the 6th grade. Her passion for teaching she says was different, she always loved to play school with her brother, and always wanted to become a teacher from the time she was little. The passion Mrs. Anderson has for music grew during her years in school, when she would invite her fellow flute players in her section over to her house for a sleepover, where they would also work on a hard part in the music they were playing. After Mrs. Anderson’s middle school years in band, she went onto high school, then she went to college. While in college, which was Mrs. Anderson’s favorite years of playing, she found her inspiration for how to teach her classroom from her favorite teacher. She also claims that her private lesson teachers helped Mrs. Anderson to learn more many things about music, and they …show more content…
Anderson’s passion for playing music was also similarly shared by her brother who played music during high school, but choose a different path in life. Mrs. Anderson’s family always supported her, but after she became a music teacher, her parents then told her that they didn’t really want her to do band because they “didn’t want me to become a band geek”. Mrs. Anderson doesn’t really believe her passion for music has really impacted her private life, except for the first date with her husband, which he went to a band concert and thought it was terrible. To this day, Mrs. Anderson still laughs about the first date story to this