New year, new learning

I am finally sipping a cup of tea unwinding for a few minutes after a long week! This was my first full week teaching at Vincennes and Marian Universities, and boy it has been a blast.  While I have done a lot of teaching privately and in classes in the past, this is the first time I have started a new year without taking classes myself.  What an odd feeling!  However, the one thing that hasn't changed is how much I am learning, and I love that I can get so much from my teaching while I give  to others.  At Marian University, I am teaching a high brass techniques class and four horn students.  What I love are the ambitious goals students are setting for themselves in their playing and how the education students embrace the crazy sounds coming out of their trumpets!  At Vincennes, I have enjoyed the chance to go back to my roots a little bit - directing the jazz band has reintroduced me to a passion of mine when I was in high school and one that I sorely missed.  Teaching 7 students including trombones and tubas and coaching the brass choir also reminded me how there are many fundamental concepts that cross all brass instruments, and how we can all learn from each other, no matter the instrument.  I have also been working at Indiana University teaching the freshmen horns (and a few grad students) all about the fundamentals of horn and creating a crash course in everything they need to succeed at university.  Those classes were a lot of fun, and it was a great affirmation of how well IU set us up for success, as I could answer any question that was thrown my way with confidence! 
So while I may not be in classes myself anymore, I certainly am learning just as much as before, and it feels great.  I am definitely okay with learning as much as I can my entire life :)