The Significant Mr. Holland

I watched it for the unknown time. Mr. Holland's Opus with Richard Dreyfus. It doesn't matter how many times I see it but I get the same lump in my throat when the final scene occurs and the alumni and students of JFK High play his Symphony. As I watched it again last night I realized I have been a little Mr. Holland at times.

This semester marked my first without teaching. I started teaching at the same institution I currently work at as the HR Director, South Georgia College. I never thought I would enjoy teaching. I was so scared when I began. I hadn't had any classes on how to teach and I didn't have a frame of reference but over the three years I taught full-time I came to love it. Although I changed career paths and went into Human Resources I continued to teach as a part-time instructor for the next six years. Each class was different but much the same. I loved when a student got the 'aha' moment of clarity. I truly felt like I made a difference in small part to their lives and I hoped they felt the same. Reminiscing over my teaching career gets more emotional when watching Mr. Holland's Opus. I think we all have lofty goals that we are going to conquer the world and leave an imprint on society's psyche. Now that I am approaching 40 I have the clarity that my imprint may not be as lofty as I aspired when I was 18.

Significance means having or expressing meaning. In statistics it means pertaining to observations that are unlikely to occur by chance in other words things happened or were significant because of YOU. All of us want to be'significant' in someone's life. I have done the assessment of where I am in my life and you know what... I feel significant! I am significant to my beautiful wife and my daughter. I don't regret the decisions of my past. All of them have culminated in where I am today. I feel like my life has meaning because I choose to.

We all want that scene at the end of Mr. Holland's Opus where an auditorium is filled with fans and the recognition of a career is praised. I want that scene too. How do we get there... servanthood. Mr. Holland was a servant! He worked tirelessly to make sure his job was done well and he chose to sacrifice his personal goals for his family and for his career. Was it appreciated? Not all of the time... Will all of our decisions be praised? Probably not. All we can do to lead a life of significance is be indebted to those around us. Choose to sacrifice our own needs and wants at times for others'. We may not get a standing ovation in an auditorium but to someone we will leave a mark in their memory that is just as significant as Carnegie Hall or a Kennedy Center Honor. Our servanthood will live on for generations in the memory of those we serve.

Be significant to someone!

jamie