Music - that's been my education.

"Music - that's been my education. There's not a day that goes by that I take it for granted." is a quote by Billie Joe Armstrong, the main vocalist for punk rock band Green Day. There's not a day that goes by that I take it for granted- surely he could have meant something different by it, but lets think about that. The arts, the music department is something we can't take for granted anymore. A number of schools cancel the music programs, and not all music programs that exist are supported to the full extent. School exists to educate children, enrich them, and help them to be successful in life when they become adults. I believe that the fine arts department should not only exist, but supported greatly because it would allow students to explore learning in different ways, and to widen up their choices for the future. I will be specifically talking about the music department in schools using real life examples, some being about our school.

Last year during our intermediate band class, we watched a movie called "Mr.Holland's Opus". This movie is about Mr. Holland, a very passionate music teacher who touches his students lives, but ends up 'retiring' because of the shut down of the fine arts programs due to 'necessary budget cuts'. The movie shows how in his teaching career, Mr. Holland affects the lives of his students he taught, and there is one particular event that in my opinion stand out. In the movie, there is going to be a school musical, and Mr. Holland fights hard to convince the others that it is worth it, and he manages to run the show. In the auditions, an amazing singer is discovered, and with the successful run of the musical and the encouragement of Mr. Holland, the student dreams big and pursues it, leaving for New York to become a singer. One could argue that this wouldn't happen in real life. But the thing is, it could. Maybe it won't be as grand as what happened in the movie, but with the music department and caring teachers, students can find talents they never knew they had and explore it. The purpose of a music program isn't to produce a certain number of successful young musicians who would go on to become professional musicians. It is to open up possibilites for students and to let them know they have lots of choices. If the board of education says that the department is useless and produces no benefits for students, they would not only be wrong, but would also be quitting and not even giving it a chance. Students should be given the chance. Students deserve the chance to be exposed to all different kinds of learning.

But is the mere existence of the music program good enough? Many schools 'support' the music department, but it could be argued that the support is only skin deep. As for our school, we have a music concert every trimester where everyone involved in any music classes or after school activities perform, but that's about it. There is the honor band festival where students audition and are selected to participate in the event with students from other schools, but until now, most of middle school didn't even know about it. Our music teachers have worked hard to organize more events and advertise them and they are bettter known now, but for the past two years I've been in middle school, I've never really felt the love from outside the music department itself. Our school is quite supportive of the athletics department. Whenever a sports team has a game with another school or is going on an overseas trip, it is always mentioned in the announcements, not to mention the assemblies. Have you ever heard of a music trip getting mentioned? No. Hopefully that will change this year, but the past two years I've been in honor band (which is an overseas trip, by the way), there has been no mention of it anywhere in the school, not even a single picture in the yearbook. It's because no one knows about it. One could say that we, the ones involved, are just seeking attention, but really, is a little of that too much to ask? I mean, sports gets all kinds of attention, why not let the music department get some as well? Some attention can go a long way. Musicians deserve the same kind of support the athletes do. Being quite involved in the music program, I notice some things that most might not, including the lack of support for the music department. Have you ever been to one of the practice rooms in the band locker area? Honestly, it's not one of the best places in the school. People constantly leave trash in the rooms, and now none of the air conditioners in the rooms (4 in total) work. In the 'Rue de Rock' room, the piano chair is broken, the sofa is covered in who-knows-how-many-years worth of dust, and there are guitar amps but no plugs. It used to be bearable, but with the air conditioners not functioning anymore, it's quite uncomfortable. I don't know about my fellow students, but I often feel like the music department is ignored for most of the year. Even if a program exists, it can't be expected for the students to be motivated to strive for their best if the school doesn't support them properly. Our music teachers are great, but it'd be nice for someone outside the program to actually seem to care about us at times other than our usual music concert. I've already made my point that the arts program should be supported at schools because it enables students to explore their options and find their talent. Solely existing can't make that happen; there must be support in order for that to happen.

Now to once again support my opinion that the music department is an essential part of school education, I will talk about what it feels to be at a school that absolutely doesn't care about music. In Korea, in my elementary school, there wasn't a proper music program, as I am sure is the same situation with all the public schools (middle school is no different). Sure, we have music classes, but it's not like we're exposed to real and different kinds of music and learn to love music. All I remember doing during classes is playing the recorder from time to time and singing simple songs. This might seem like a similar situation to our school at the Melawati Campus, but at our elementary school, here in ISKL, there is a recorder club as an after school activity, and a band class is offered in 5th grade. I've been to both schools, and I can surely say that it makes a massive difference. Back when I was in Korea, I had no awareness for music. Even though I said in my previous paragraph that our school could do a better job of supporting the music department, we still are better off than a school that doesn't have one. Before I came here and decided to take band, I didn't even know what a clarinet was, or that it even existed. All my classmates and I knew were a piano, a violin, and a recorder. One time, my classmate brought in a flute to play in front of our class, and most of us never even saw one before. It is not because our country is poor and the instrument rare; we just haven't been exposed to it and weren't really aware of, 'music'. When I came here and started doing real music besides the piano, I felt good, almost enlightened. Korean schools are known for making students study hard. In my opinion, they could really use a proper music class to serve the purpose of giving the students a break and letting them see that there is more than just memorizing certain stuff in life. Maybe with a properly installed music department in Korea, more talents could be recognized and more students can widen up their choice for the future.

So far I have talked about how I think a music department is an essential part of a student's education, and how it can open up new possibilities for students. Many teenagers 'get in' to music, even if it's just listening to it. A proper music department can teach students to learn to love music and to give them chances to express themselves creatively. There's a reason you can't just quit on the music program in schools. You shouldn't just give up on something you haven't even given a try.