The Difference

I feel the need to put disclaimers before each of my posts... I am not sure if that is a bad thing or not. Oh Well.... DISCLAIMER: I love college, I do not really get home sick, I love the friends I have made, there are amazing people here.

I was at the high school football game where the marching band seniors are features. They get to dress up in costumes, play a show written by one of their peers, and a song from their freshman year. It is such a memorable night. Seeing it all happen for them makes me miss making all of those memories last year, miss my marching family, and talking to my old director made me miss him terribly too.

I want to do a little comparing now. My current band director is a really cool guy. He's amazing at what he does, is very musically and generally intelligent and all around great. My high school band director was great in a different way. He knew a lot about music and was a great leader, sure. But he was more to us than that. He was willing to listen if we had a problem, even not band related. He really showed that he cared about us. We could spend time with him in his office and it was no big deal. We could joke around about anything.
I am sure my new director cares about us as a band, and as a teacher cares about us as students, but it is not the same. Now, maybe because I am a freshman and don't exactly know the guy, I do not see that extra 'care factor' yet, but I don't see it between him and other students either.
 Maybe the transition from high school to college means that teachers go from educators+people who care about you, to simply just amped up educators. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. We became socialized as well as educated through k-12 school, but we came to college to get the education we need to successfully pursue the career we want. In the same way teachers in high school want you to learn but some also care about you as a child, and the professors here at college mostly just want to prepare you to be successful in a career. (More disclaimer: some do seem to care beyond our academic and career success, but I am going by the faculties as wholes. ) 

That extra factor that I saw in my directors and teachers, that I want to show to my future students, is just another thing to miss.