Florida Vacation

For those of you who didn't know I went to Florida this past week with my family. I know, it was in the middle of the semester and I missed an entire week of school, which was and is extremely difficult. But in my defense, it was for an extremely good cause. My sister Andrea, who is 14, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes) this past May, and faught her little heart out until November, at which point the doctor's declared her cancer free! My family and I are still kind of on edge about the whole situation because it takes a year before she will be completey home free because there is a 50% chance it could return. But, we try not to dwell on that and just celebrate the fact that she's cancer free now :)

Anyway, that's a little background, the reason we went to Florida is because the hospital she was being treated at has a very strong relationship with the Make a Wish Foundation, a charity that grants the wishes of children with potentially terminal illnesses, and our family was told that if we filled out the paperwork Andrea would have her wish granted. Well, of course Andrea was excited about this prospect and wished to go to Disneyworld becuase she has always wanted to go, but never had the chance. Knowing that she had this trip to look forward to truly motivated her to keep fighting when things were difficult for her.

For me, the trip was not so much about the vacation, or Florida, or Disneyworld or getting out of class for a week, it was more about spending an entire week with my family where we didn't have to stress out about what doctor's visit or test was coming up and what that would mean for Andrea. When the biggest worry on your mind is taken away for an entire week and you can just watch your loved ones enjoy themselves utterly, that is just priceless.

We had the opportunity to stay at the Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, which is about 20 minutes from Orlando and 10 from all the major Disney parks. The Village is a place for families with children who have or have had terminal illnesses to come and stay for a week and the visit typically coincides with a child's wish trip to Disneyworld since the wish of many kids is to go there. This village is just the cutest thing in the entire world. It is totally and completely centered around children. Don't believe me? Well, the building where they serve the food is called the Gingerbread House and it looks like one inside and out, from the fake frosting coated paint on the outside to the "cupcake room" where you can eat breakfast, it is just cute. There is also the Ice Cream Parlor where families can get free ice cream treats all day, which is constructed to look like a banana split, complete with ice cream cone pillars and giant bowls to eat ice cream in outside. And everything is child-sized, the chairs are little, the counters are lower, the door handles are closer to the ground, and everywhere you look there are cheerful murals painted on every available surface. It is a child's dream world. Literally.

I cannot express the love and caring that was felt each and every day we stayed there. The Village uses about 1,500 volunteers every day plus some regular paid employees and every single one was there to try and make our stay the best it could possibly be. I think the most memorable part of my trip was the day some of the Disney characters came to the village to take pictures with the kids and sign autographs and stuff. You cannot even imagine the joy on some of the children's faces as they fufilled their wish of meeting Mickey and Minnie Mouse, or horsing around with Goofy.

Once moment in particular will stick with me forever: there was a little boy of about 7 or 8 who was confined to a wheelchair and he always had his head down becuase he had a very difficult time supporting it himself. Him and his dad (who was just EXCELLENT with him-talked to him and wheeled him everywhere, the little boy just adores him) were there at the same time as my sister, mom and I were and my mom was talking to him when Mary Poppins came over and started talking to the little boy. What followed was just amazing: Mary Poppins was asking the boy all sorts of questions like if he was polite, did he clean off his plate at breakfast, was he a gentleman, and would he like to pet her parrot on her umbrella? Completely in her character but still caring. The little boy pulled his head up (and it was clearly a struggle to do it), started patting the parrot/umbrella and just beamed at her. And the dad looks at my mom with tears in his eyes and says, "That's the first time I've seen his smile in months." That is a moment I will never forget.

I don't think people realize what a positve affect they can have on another person's life just by doing something so simple. And every moment we stayed at the village we experienced things like this. There are so many children there with diseases they will never recover from and that week they spent there will be the best time of their life, and I just think that what they do there is absolutely priceless. To give someone happiness and hope is the greatest gift you could ever give, and I believe that to the core of my being.

There is a quote etched into the entryway to the Give Kids the World Village, it happens to be the founder Henri Landwirth's favorite quote, and I think it is appropriate to close with:
"You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give." ~Winston Churchill~

Music of the Heart

This is an excellent motivational movie to watch for anyone who wants to be a music educator. It follows the life of Roberta Guaspari, a single mother of two boys who has a passion for the violin and needs a job. She walks into the principle's office of an inner city school in East Harlem looking for a job and, although she lacks prior experience, the principal hires Guaspari based on her firm belief that any child can learn to play the violin. Guaspari starts out with 50 students who have no appreciation for the violin and using her strict teaching style and love of her students, her number of students triples in 10 years. But when funding for the arts gets cut in her district, Guisparri finds herself fighting for the program that changed the lives of every student in her classroom over those 10 years. The ending of the movie is truly inspirational: it features Guispari and her students performing with the greatest violin names alive today in a benefit concert held in Carnegie Hall.

There are two main reasons I love this movie. One is becuase even though her students are mostly underpriviledged and have difficult home lives, Guaspari treats them just like every other child and, in some ways, expects even more from them. She never lets them get away with not practicing and consistently demands excellence. Because of these expectations her students grow to have a deep appreciation for the violin and music in general, a stellar work ethic, and a love for Guaspari. Many of her students grow up to become things like doctors and lawyers and are able to succeed. I think this movie is a great example of how a great teacher truly can influence and change the path of a child's life. Along these same lines, I get frustrated when people say that children in inner city schools aren't able to succeed because of where they live or their upbringing. I think that is totally false and this movie is the perfect example of what a great teacher can do for inner city kids when he or she doesn't see them as "inner city kids" but just a group of students that he or she expects a lot out of. The second reason I love this movie is becuase it demonstrates firsthand how not just a great teacher, but how music can change someone's life and how much a child's life can be compromised when funding for the arts is cut. (Can you tell I'm passionate about this topic? It just keeps coming back!) The ending where the kids and professional violinists (who are NOT played by actors by the way, they are the real deal!) come together to make beautiful music in order to support the continuance of Guaspari's program is one of the most powerful moments. This movie is a must see for future and current music educators.