Small pleasures

To quote from one of my favorite songs in the Broadway musical Oliver, "Small pleasures, small pleasures, who would deny us these? Gin tonic, large measures no skimping if you please..." Basically, the song is about people finding joy in the simplest of things. Everyone finds their happiness in different areas whether it be as grand as a trip around the world or as simple as munching on freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. To a perennially pensive person like me, it’s important to have small pleasures in life; things that can keep a smile on my face even when my brain’s going 100 mph (I’m a textbook worrywart!). I’ve got a long list of small pleasures in life, good books, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, music, beautiful sunsets, and my most recent source of constant smiles: teaching.

I’ve always had an inclination towards teaching. Sharing knowledge and meeting new and interesting people always fascinated me. Ever since I was in high school I had done some light tutoring and peer teaching (usually in English and Literature classes) and teaching theater to grade school children. One summer I joined an immersion to Iloilo to teach underprivileged kids in the barrio. It probably didn’t seem like it while I was sitting in one of the hottest and smallest classrooms I had ever seen, but that experience was one of the best of my life. This summer I’ve had the great joy of going back to two of my first loves – teaching and theater.

Theater has been in my blood ever since my first play when I was six years old. It wasn’t just the acting that I loved, it was watching plays as well. Even before I could fully understand the stories I’d always get excited watching Broadway musicals. The lights, sets, and music transported me to another time and place and stirred my imagination.

A few months ago, my friend David Cosico from Trumpets asked me if I was interested in teaching for the Trumpets Summer Theater Workshop for kids. It was a question that I didn’t have to ponder on long because he was talking about two things I adored, theater and kids. Regardless of the fact that now when it comes to the theater my butt firmly remains in the audience seats, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do stage work with kids so I agreed and went through a rigorous teacher’s training seminar with veteran Chari Arespacochaga before beginning classes last April.

I was assigned to two different age groups: 6-12 years old with Hannah Bernardino and 12-17 years old with Mai Mai Hernandez. These two classes have become my small pleasures this summer. In between trips to the beach and turning into a catatonic vegetable over the weekends, I keep my days filled with entertaining musical theater classes with the kids.

It’s amazing what you can learn from teaching children. I get back as much from these classes as I give them. I think anyone who has taught will agree that teaching opens you up to new and different learning experiences. It may oftentimes be one of the most overlooked professions but it is one of the oldest and most rewarding. I read an essay by John W. Schlatter that asserts, "I am a teacher. I speak loudest when I listen most. Material wealth is not one of my goals, but I am a full-time treasure seeker in my quest for new opportunities for my students to use their talents and in my constant search for those talents that lie buried in self-defeat. I am the most fortunate of all who labor."

I couldn’t agree more, teaching has been a constant source of joy for me and being a part of these classes has been a lot of fun. I admit there are times when it’s been difficult to drag myself out of bed at 7 in the morning for my 9 o’clock class (especially if I was out the night before) and there have been days that Red Bull was the only thing that kept me going, but overall it’s definitely worth it. Seeing the kids smiling and enjoying themselves is reward enough for me and somehow makes up for the eye bags and lack of sleep.

My kids’ class (6-12 years old) has been especially interesting. I think the kids in this group are the most stimulating to deal with as they are right at the starting point of finding themselves. Inhibitions in this group may not be as strong as those of the teenagers’ group so the children are more willing to try things that may be deemed embarrassing by slightly older kids. Thanks to this willingness to learn, it’s always exciting to see what they’ll come up with in class.

One of my particularly favorite moments was just last Monday when one of my students asked what a pasture was and another student, Audrey, replied, "A pasture is a big grass for the sheeps to eat" with an informative nod of her head. Indeed, straight from the mouths of the babes. The simplicity of students this age reminds me what it was like to be that young again. Everything is interesting and practically everything is a first. I can’t deny that I miss that feeling.

The teens (12-17 years old), on the other hand, is another story. They’re more particular about the things they say and do. Inhibitions are a big factor in this group and I notice that they tend to watch what they say. Instead of doing things in a big way like the kids, they do things in a medium way. Instead of trimming down the exaggeration it’s tugging and stretching at the minimal. It’s the age where "groups" abound and "individuals" stay in the background and it takes me back to what it felt like being in high school. Can you remember the first time you actually began caring what other people thought? Where is that blurry barrier between running around yelling at the top of your lungs and suddenly stopping in your tracks and making sure that no one’s watching?

Jostein Gaarder mentioned this in his novel Sophie’s World and said that sometimes it’s better to NOT know better. The only thing we need to keep us constantly happy in life is a faculty of wonder and this diminishes as we grow. The teenagers, albeit more shy, are very focused on learning new things. I have a lot of very talented students and I admit, although the age gap is small, I’m constantly surprised at how different things are for them than they were when I was their age (I think cell phones and television are the culprits there!).

In either case, these Trumpets classes have been very interesting and very fun to teach. To be a part of a child’s life, even for just a few weeks, is something you can’t buy in a store. Everyone remembers good teachers they’ve had along the way and I feel honored to play a small role in "shaping" a part of these children. Even though I’m the one teaching the kids, I’ve noticed that kids have a good way of teaching adults as well. I’ve learned so much from my students and from experiences we’ve had along the way. They’re living reminders of the kids in all of us and the things we used to believe in. This is even true for a jaded and cynical 23-year-old like me. It’s true what they say about small packages – or small pleasures in this case – that’s where the best things come from.