Roberta H.

Music has always been a part of my life since I can remember. Starting with records and reel to reel machines, I was dancing and singing along. I used to watch the monitor needles go back and forth and believed the people were inside singing. I had a rough beginning to my life but thankfully it was brief. Music was always in the background. My mom used to blast the radio, celebrating her freedom from my abusive father but I also saw the tears. I was only 5 but I can tell you exactly who she was listening to in the car. My grandpa had a wide array of albums and I'd hook myself up to the record player and listen to the songs with huge headphones. I started playing my mom's mini organ when I was about 8 and I'd play out of the pop song books she bought. I just taught myself. When I started playing the flute at 10, I taught myself the bass clef on our new keyboard. I would compose songs to memory. It was recommended I take piano lessons. I was 15 at the time. My teacher was completely booked but agreed to hear one of my compositions. She made room for me upon hearing my performance. I easily transitioned into the pianist for our church and would get rid of the left hand block chords and make up my own arrangement. During my first year of lessons, I was determined to learn Fur Elise by Beethoven and I did. I gave 2 recitals which I performed mostly by memory. I got 2nd place in the contest for the most measures memorized. Music was my passion and friend while growing up. I had multiple tapes of radio songs. I learned different genres due to the lack of variety on FM, I turned to the oldies on AM and learned those songs and taped them. I would even have a running top 10 list of songs in my diaries. You could say I was baby crazy instead of boy crazy in my teen years. I loved babysitting. My first full time summer job was for the city of Grand Rapids, MN. It was the Fun Wagon. We drove a van to various school playgrounds and set up shop with a number of activities for the school aged children to do. I then moved to St. Cloud and started attending college. I was also a single mom. During one summer I worked for the college's Rec Kids program. I am fluent in ASL so I taught them some basics. Once the director found out I was a musician as well, she asked me to head up the children's performance for the parents. I taught Old McDonald Had a Farm in ASL and had them sing it at the same time. I also had some of the older children sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a round robin fashion. One boy showed up with his saxophone. We made face costumes and all the props by hand. I also worked for the Boys and Girls Kidstop Summer program. I implemented music there as well. I brought my keyboard and just played a beat and asked if they could come up with a rap. They did not need my help at all. They practiced for about 20 minutes and then performed for everyone else. Most recently I had been working at a daycare. Again, I was asked to be in charge of the Pre-4 graduation performance, using Old McDonald Had a Farm. These were 4 and 5 year olds. I didn't think we could pull it off but it was absolutely perfect. Even one of the students led the rest. Talk abut holding back proud tears. I've used music for my lesson plans and games. I taught them music history, let them use my keyboard to play musical chairs and even Name That Tune. They would have to guess what movie it was based on the theme song. It was fun. Working with children doesn't feel like a job. It's so motivating and makes me want to become an even better person in society. I like the challenges and the rewards. It's always a learning experience for me. Every student is unique and learn in a unique way. I am ready for that experience again. I have so much to give back.