GUEST BLOG: “The Joy of Mentoring, or How I Almost Became an Architect,” by Karen Fulmer

THE JOY OF MENTORING, or HOW I ALMOST BECAME AN ARCHITECT, by Karen Fulmer

 

       The launch of ACDA Mentoring is a revolutionary development in our mission to inspire excellence in performance, education, composition and advocacy, matching the knowledge and resources of experienced conductors and composers with the needs and requests of emerging candidates. ACDA members will soon connect as teachers, coaches, advisors and students without the restriction of geographic location.

       I always loved to sing but never thought of music education as a career until my senior year of high school when my choir teacher, Howard Meharg, suggested that I should consider becoming a teacher. Not knowing exactly what I wanted to do in life, working with students through teaching music sounded like something I’d enjoy. College brought some disappointing life experiences as I never made it into the top choir and I had one voice teacher tell me I might be able to get by as an elementary music teacher, but I certainly could not be successful at the secondary level, where I wanted to teach. I was devastated and ready to quit.

       Then, my student teaching placement paired me with a skilled cooperating teacher who said I had everything going for me to become a great teacher.  Although he taught secondary choral music, performed with the local opera company and sang in the Oregon Bach Festival Choir, he also played trumpet and loved performing in dance and jazz bands. He was an active member of MENC and ACDA – he encouraged me to join choirs, the opera chorus and professional organizations to gain experience and depth of knowledge. As I tagged along to various events, he introduced me to many other area choir directors and relationships were created.

       The words and encouragement of one person changed my life direction forever and had Howard not seen a potential teacher in this high school student, I would most likely be an architect today. As I’ve worked with numerous student teachers during my career and currently supervise several for a local university, I am keenly reminded of the significant role mentors play in the development of conductors, teachers, and composers and how important it is for these relationships to build and flourish. I hope ACDA members will enthusiastically take advantage of this beneficial new program. Mentor registrations began Nov. 1, and mentee applications started being accepted yesterday (Dec. 1). Both steps can be taken at mentoring.acda.org.