Formula for Success by Nathan

Formula for Success by Nathan - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

Today I would like to discuss the teacher that has made a lasting impact on my learning journey in high school – my music teacher/ band teacher/ conductor, Mr. Furstoss. Ever since I first started music class in my sophomore year of high school, Mr. Furstoss had always brought an upbeat attitude, kindness, and sense of humor to class every day.
Because Mr. Furstoss’ class rules are reasonable and easy to follow, everyone always sticks to them and even rowdy students calm down and find themselves at ease, without desire to do anything outright wrong or test the boundaries like they might in other classes. There is always a mutual respect automatically built between the students and Mr. Furstoss, and everyone focuses on what they came there to do, which is to learn to make music.
Not only is Mr. Furstoss a helpful, calm, funny and charismatic teacher, he is also an effective, dynamic and influential professional. He really knows how to impart the knowledge and love of music to students who may not have had any exposure to formal music learning before. Somehow he is able to teach a few dozen kids a number of different instruments from basic to public performance level, all while training the Band to perform in citywide events. He genuinely believes that all of us can learn to play, and make a fantastic Band; his faith and confidence in us are contagious. That’s the key to his students’ determination to pay attention and practice.
In one short academic year, Mr. Furstoss turned me from a kid with an otherwise mundane set of skills into a capable saxophone player, who knows how to listen, learn and practice. He managed to give me a formula for learning independently, retaining and practicing my new skills. I find that this approach works not only for music, but all my other subjects as well. This is the kind of impact that will last far beyond high school and college. I am grateful to internalize the formula for success–confidence in my ability to teach myself what I need to learn, in gradual portions, and do it with harmony and rhythm.