Mentors & Encouragement

So, after my post on Tuesday I had the pleasure of speaking to two women who have had different roles in my college experience, but to a certain degree I consider them both mentors.

On Tuesday I drove to ECU for my guitar lesson only to find that Tuesday was actually "Monday" in ECU world due to the Labor Day holiday. Dr. Frank (my guitar instructor) was kind enough to fit me into his schedule, I just needed to wait about 30 minutes or so. I decided to wander through the halls of the School of Music to see if Dr. B, my french horn professor, happened to be in her office--and to my delight she was! She and I chatted about dealing with college students, our good old days at ECU, and just life in general. Dr. B loves her students very much, and will always go the extra mile for them--even when the treat her less than stellar. While talking to her I noticed that she still had a birthday card that another horn major and I had made for her when she turned 40 on her wall! That blew me away--it was just a simple white sheet with comic font. Nothing special at all, but she had kept it all these years!

She reminded me that even the most distinguished professors at the school--those who are asked to teach all over the world, those who perform for thousands of people in major orchestras or choirs--all deal with difficult situations from time to time. It's just part of teaching.

Yesterday I had a scheduled meeting with Ms. B. who is my Teacher of Record at MACU. "The Queen" (as I lovingly refer to her--and to which I think she gets a little kick out of when I call her that in front of the faculty and students) has a special relationship to the school as her parents founded the school many moons ago. She observed me in two classes last week and was doing a follow up as well as fielding my list of questions. She had very nice things to say about my lessons and she was such an encouragement to me. When I told her I had been frustrated about certain situations, she quickly reminded me that I was doing the Lord's work and YES there will be bumps along the road (which I knew, but it's nice to hear The Queen admit to it as well--as she has QUITE the reputation and respect of the alumni).

She also reminded me that I shouldn't be surprised when people act like people instead of acting like Jesus.

Even at a Bible university.

So, so true.

Unfortunate, but true.

Two ladies, lots of experience, encouragement, and wisdom.

I'm very thankful for the two of them.