This Teacher Awakens Souls

Passionate teachers have such power to nurture and empower lives. Like soil, light and water is to seedlings, they are the nourishment from which beautiful blossoms grow. Their greatest satisfaction often comes through watching as hurdles are broken down and dreams take flight.

Nick Rose-Stamey is among these life changers. Now program manager at the Music Resource Center – a Cincinnati nonprofit teen center in Walnut Hills that blends performing arts with life skills mentoring to help young people discover and pursue their inner talent and strengths, Nick found his calling when working at Elementz, an Over-the-Rhine hip hop youth center sharing a similar vision.

It happened around six years ago. One day he was sitting in his cubicle at Pure Romance where he spent much of his time as a copywriter, and it occurred to him. “I wasn’t happy,” he told me. “When I was truly happy was the hours that I spent volunteering at Elementz. I realized THAT is what fed my soul.”

Soon after, he left that job to pursue plans that were barely made. Nick began teaching guitar lessons but then, after about a month, everything dried up. It was the winter of 2015 when he zeroed out his bank account, calling his parents in tears.

That is when fate stepped in. Elementz got a grant. They hired Nick to make community concerts with My Cincinnati (a free youth orchestra program in Cincinnati), and those concerts packed Woodward Theatre.

It was the start of Nick’s beginning as a teacher. His first class at Elementz was called Studio E, where junior high school students learned how to record productions. That core group of youth are now graduating high school. It is Nick’s proudest joy.

Recently Nick shared this with his friends on Facebook and I asked him if I could share it with the greater world, as it speaks to his heart and his journey….

Nick’s Own Words

This is a really emotional post for me to write.

This week one of my students asked me to write a letter of recommendation for their application to the jazz program at the Oberlin Conservatory Of Music.

It’s a big deal. And I’m totally confident they’ll make it.

But while writing this letter, I started to reflect on my own experiences. What came to me was that feeling of pressure; like dropping into senior year all over again. The pressure to decide who you are NOW, what you want to do NOW, what you stand for NOW!!

It made me laugh. Because I never went to music school. I graduated with an English degree, worked in advertising for what felt like forever. Then I jumped ship. I quit my comfortable corporate gig and pursued this (at the time) spontaneous dream of making a difference through music.

It did not go well, at first. I lost everything. I failed. But I did not give up.

Then, over time, things worked out. I started a music program with Elementz Urban Arts and played a lot of incredible shows. Then I got to try my hand at revamping a struggling music program. And, 2 years later. it’s doing really, really well!

So to my kiddos who are graduating this year, there are a million directions you can take in life.

I can’t lie. The pressure will always be there to pick certain paths over other ones. To make decisions that lead to a high-paying job, something sensible or a cookie-cutter lifestyle. I won’t tell you not to pursue these options. I only ask that no matter where you go, always take the way that makes you happy. Because you can have everything in the world but feel like you have nothing too.

Find your dream. See it through.

Even if it doesn’t work right now, you can always try again later.

Rock on guys!

Rock on Nick…keep making dreams come true!