Mr. Holland's Opus

On Saturday, my oldest daughter will get up his cap and gown and cross the stage to receive the diploma, she worked hard to win. As I watch and his friends finish their four years, a number of things strike me in such an agreement. They have something so many of us forget the oldest. They remind me how important it is to make a difference in the world and how to make the difference gives a sense TOs our lives. When my daughter graduated from high school, she wanted to become a science teacher. She had some great models. She loved working with children and did really well in her science classes. As she started the science curriculum in college, side by side with pre-med student, she realized she was not exactly what she expected. Somewhere in the middle of its second year, she told us she had made her great - Integrated Communications. She explained that it was a combination of marketing, advertising and communications. But anyway, she always wanted to be associated with children. While the summer, she made the connections and landed a job in fundraising is the Cancer Hospital for Children. She returned again last summer for his second year as an intern. A few weeks ago, she interviewed for a position in the same office in a fundraiser (they call this development mean) position. (No news yet, but please keep in your prayers.) This contrasts with a conversation I had with a former high school buddy of mine. Her daughter graduated this month too, and she was accepted into a New York program to teach children from the city center. He was proud of his accomplishments, but is concerned about his safety, affordability and New York "Peacecorp" as wages. "How is she going to do?" he asked. As a father of a college near Grad, I can totally relate. But in the back of my mind I can so identify with the passion of driving this kid. She wants to make a difference and so this source of energy led her more powerfully than look after his own interest. Good for her! A few weeks ago, I caught the movie Mr. Holland's Opus on television. In it, Richard Dreyfuss plays a musician early in life faces in education, leaving behind him the desire to write his symphony, his opus. During his career of 30 years at school, shows him to inspire students and make a difference in the lives of his students. Unfortunately, his career ended by a reduction in the school of arts progam. He was forced to retire and he describes like this to a friend:

You work for 30 years because you think what you do makes a difference, you think it's important for people, but you wake up one morning and discover, no, you made a little mistake there, you are enduring.

It is not until we see him give his students an appreciation event surprise that we see so clearly that Mr. Holland's Opus was never his symphony, but the impact it has made on so many lives. We need meaning in our lives. We needed a career that support some aspects of this. In the movie "Up in the Air" (a must see for all professionals who work and do work there) Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, facing a guy he just shot with the following words:

Ryan Bingham: Your resume shows that you minor in French Culinary Arts. Most students work the fryer at KFC. You bussed tables It Picatorre meet your needs. Then you're out of college and started working here. How much did they pay you to give up your dreams? Bob: Twenty-seven thousand a year. Ryan Bingham: When did you stop and go back to what made you happy?

I'm at a point in my life where I really enjoy what I do. I changed a hardcore software development career in the marketing business development, blogs (you are sampling stuff NY) and education as a complement.