Appreciation

My appreciation paper is dedicated to my drumline instructor Juan Martinez.

Before I came to highschool I wasn't such a good drummer, nor did I really take the

activity very seriously. I always messed around and didn't really care to learn my music

or warm ups because we only played what we knew, which was barely anything. That's

just how it was in middle school, and I had no clue what was in store for me in

highschool. If I were to never met Juan I honestly don't think I would be so modest

about my playing, or push myself to be the best I could be because he always did that

for me. I also wouldn't be drumming as well nor as passionately if it wasn't for Juan. He

really brought my true self out through drumming and I owe it all to him for having faith

in me when no one else did. He's a real person, I mean obviously he's real but what I

mean is that he's straight forward. He tells you if you're doing really bad without

hesitation and he's not afraid to hurt your feelings but it's because he's trying to better

you. He's trying to push you and make you see what you can become, and if it's too

much he’ll sit and help you out. On the other hand he's a really nice and funny person.

When he knows where nervous he tells us a joke or ask us if we need to use the

restroom cause it looks like were going to “shit” ourselves, which really means is that we

should relax and not be so scared. There's a lot of things that Juan has done for all of

us, and for me as well. There was this one time that I was extremely nervous before a

performance because my dad was going to be there. I didn't get to see him before I

went on and Juan knew that I was really excited for my dad to see me perform. He

never showed up through cause he accidently went to the wrong school and didn't make
it in time. After the performance I went looking for him and I didn't see him, but I saw

Juan waving me down so I walked on over. He told me that even though my dad wasn't

there to see me that I should still be proud of myself for what I did. It was a good

performance and I did my best, anyone that could see me out there would know that I'm

passionate about this activity and that I'm a an excellent player. I don't need my dad to

be proud of me since everyone who saw me on that floor was already proud from the

start. Juan showed me the confidence and passion that I had hiding in me, and I thank

him for that because I really wouldn't be who I am today without him. I know that having

him as my instructor has lead me to be a better performer and has made me the best

drummer I can be. Not only that but I know having the mindset of achieving anything I

put my mind will get me far in life. And no matter what, to always be proud of what you

do as long as you've tried your best at it.