Dear Mr. Berlinghof,

You influenced my life by helping me appreciate music and teaching me how to play a variety of percussion instruments in a span of five years. Entering the band room in fourth grade and seeing all the different instruments both confused and excited me. I remember when you passed out paper for us to choose three instruments we felt interested in. Unable to play any of my chosen instruments, I regarded band as class which I possessed no ability to take. Then, I recall you kindly redirecting me to the percussion area. Obviously, I accepted the new option and still continue to play percussion.

I (among others) admire how you somehow remain calm during band rehearsals and aspire to reach your level of patience. Impressively, you continue to display patience and eagerness to teach students how to play instruments every single year. Teaching the same lessons over and over again must feel tiresome and irritating, but hopefully worth it at the end of the year. Sometimes, I wonder how you remain so calm and enduring during band, and I most likely will continue to. You remain one of the very few people who present a startling patience which sometimes reaches levels of personal worry.

I really appreciate how you offer us all a chance to learn something new; even if it takes us a while to understand. Whenever we mess up or fail to follow your directions, you always try to help us no matter how terribly we play (or act). I recall how a few students usually goof off during sectionals and rehearsals, sometimes even reaching a point where you yell at them. Even after all their silly antics and frustrating actions, you continue to try and improve how they play. I feel like people do not say this to you enough, so thank you for putting up with us kids for all these years.

Joining band impacted me in way I never even thought of. This elective allowed me to make friends with people whom I usually never interact with outside of band. I even begin to notice the sounds of various percussion instruments in songs and always end up replaying the it because the rest of the song itself passed by unnoticed. Although quite irritating, I love knowing the names of the silly or quiet sounds in the background. Thank you for giving me a chance to join band and continuing to tolerate me as well as everyone else.