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Influential Teacher


An important teacher in my life is Ms. Andria Murphy, and she is one of the few teachers who have inspired me and pushed me through life to help me get to where I am today. She taught me in Religion in grade 8, but she helped me develop as a musician as well as a student. She showed me that it is okay to live a little, and that music can be a part of my life in more ways than just piano lessons. Interviewing her has really opened up my eyes to see that music effect everyone the same way, and really does bring people together.

Music has enriched Ms. Murphy’s life, being a part of everything she does. Music is a catalyst that brings upon a certain relaxation and stress relief, that allows her to feel more open and free. She does this by listening to it, playing it, and participating in things related to it such as dance, choir, or piano lessons. She believes that a large part of music is being present in things such as the school musical or choir, because it gives her a sense of peace, joy, and belonging.

Music can be found all throughout her life, even being exposed to music from the womb. She even states,

“For example, I saw Phantom of the Opera when I was four years old, live, and before I went, I knew the ENTIRE Soundtrack and my parents told me not to sing. Because the people there were here to listen to the professionals, not me”

Music continued to thrive in her life in tiny ways such as the choir during elementary school. It wasn’t until she was 12 did she begin taking piano lesson and dance. Since her lessons had started later, her life was affected in the sense she was able to take something she loved, because she was always dancing and singing, she was able to learn and play it herself. This gave her the opportunity to express herself creatively in way lesson might not. It brought an appreciation later on when she did start taking lessons because it showed her the work required and not take it for granted as if someone were taking lessons since they were four and having it be another part of their lives rather than something fulfilling within their lives.

Ms. Murphy’s presence at my middle and high school, Villanova College, music community started as the Middle School Choir’s Accompanist. Her involvement continued, flipping pages, being at the winter and spring concerts and helping organize people backstage. She has also been deeply involved in the school’s musical, stage managing ensuring that all the director’s visions come to light. She uses these opportunities to participate in student’s lives, enriching their lives and ensuring that each and everyone of the students enjoys every moment on stage.

Since the topic of this article is about Influential Teachers, I thought it would be nice to see who influenced my influential teacher. The person who influenced Ms. Murphy was her Piano Teacher, who had taught her for 10 years. She (the teacher) was emotionally invested in everything she taught. This inspired Ms. Murphy because this is what she believes music is about, it is something that talks to your soul and brings out the emotions that words fail to conceive. Ms. Murphy states her teacher’s passion, love, and effort she put when she played was really inspiring to her because no matter what instrument she picked up, she played it with that passion and love. She was able to teach Ms. Murphy that music was not just a thing, there is the care of the instrument, the investment of time, it is not just about the sound, there is a whole world around it.

The lessons given to her through her teacher inspired her to be a teacher herself, loving it in her own way. If she could narrow it down, she would say her favourite part about being a teacher is the “A-Ha” moment. This is when a kid finally starts to get it, and in that moment where everything you have been working towards begins succeeding, is just a magical moment. She also appreciates having the opportunity to share what she is passionate about with other people because passion is for all ages. She states that working with kids is totally different from working with adults because kids are so “open” and “inquisitive”, which brings out a lot of your passions which you might not share with adults because you are worried about what they might think. With kids, everything is on the table, and they are just so responsive to that and they catch your passion and they want to do well because of that.

As a teacher, it is your job to inspire children, but sometimes the students can even inspire the teachers. For Ms. Murphy, a student who inspired her was myself. She stated that I had taught her a lot about what it means to be a teacher, being her first year. When she met me, she saw that I struggled a lot with my academics, but she saw that it wasn’t because I wasn’t capable of doing it, rather because it did not interest me. This forced her to learn how to make things interesting for me to learn, through things like passion. Though the journey for this was difficult, the relationship forged after that because of music was something special. She states that I was always entering her room singing away, she thinks that that connection that developed between us all these years and evolved into now a friendship .This really inspired her because she realized she wanted more of what we had, so she continues to inspire her students through passion in hopes to spark a relationship between her students.

Ms. Murphy’s story is truly an inspiring one and I am grateful everyday to have met her. If it weren’t for who knows where I’d be today. Teachers truly have a magical job.

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