A u t o b i o g r a p h i c S ke t c h

My musical journey began when I was a young child with my grandmother, Brenda. My

siblings and I used to stay with my grandparents in Florida for the summer. Brenda taught me

how to play the piano and to sing, and I loved every minute. She strongly encouraged my

musical growth as a young child. “When you get famous Rachel Harney, you better remember

me,” she would say. Of course I am not famous, but I do remember everything she ever taught

me.

When thinking back to first grade and maybe even younger, my memories are almost

exclusively about music. My first grade teacher, Mrs. King, sang goofy songs while reading

stories, “Gackgoon went the litte green frog one day…” Grandma Harney watched us after

school, and she sangg Bible songs, “The B-I-B-L-E, yes that’s the book for me,” all day long.

Carol, my babysitter, played those sing-along video tapes and I would be in the living room

dancing and singing “Rockin’ Robin.” My memories show that music was an integral part of my

everyday life.

In second grade I fell in love with music at school. Mr. Cordell had us do so many fun

activities in music class. We put on a Solar System show for the parents, and I got to be the

announcer! In third grade, we moved and my new music teacher was Miss Follstadt. She was

amazing. You could tell she had a deep passion for music. She went to the Gifted and Talented

Enrichment Program after my fourth grade year, but in sixth grade, I got into the GATE music

program and got to spend all day once a week with her. In this program we got to sing for the

Nutcracker downtown and at her wedding. We performed at many different venues and, of

course, I loved performing. Miss Follstadt had a way of connecting with the students and always

encouraged our creativity through music.

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Fourth grade through sixth grade, I played the violin. I was extremely excited to begin

playing an instrument! Our teacher, Mr.Veith, was an older, kind man, but he never really

connected with me. I remember almost being afraid of him, but I played because I liked the

violin. I remember playing Pachabel’s Canon in D and playing a duet with my best friend. For

sixth graders, we were on top of the world.

Fifth grade rolled around and the real fun began… band! I was going to learn how to

play the flute. Ms. Hoevel and Mr. Hunt came twice a week to Rosedale Elementary. My parents

were not always on top of things when I was a child, so I did not have a flute to play on for the

first month or so. I just fingered the notes on a pencil. Finally, Ms. Hoevel decided to give me a

school flute. I went home and practiced all of the time. Soon enough, I was caught up with

everyone and playing even better. Ms. Hoevel tells me all of the time now that when she sees a

struggling beginner, she thinks of me. She never gave up on me and now I am playing flute in

college. Ms. Hoevel is never the person to give compliments or say inspiring things, but in a

way, we inspired each other.

In middle school, I started to take the flute seriously. Team teaching in the band room

made it possible for the directors to take me out individually to work on audition and solo

music. The music department helped me buy a flute in the eighth grade and I won a scholarship

for private lessons. I played in District 13 Honor Band every year from grades 7-12. These

experiences were essential to my love of music and education. We would have amazing

directors from around the country come in and teach for the weekend. These directors all used

different methods, and it was exciting to watch them work. I learned so much in those

weekends and I remember wanting to be like them one day.

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Marching band was a major part of my K-12 experience. I joined the band in eight grade

and it was so cool to be in the band with all of the high school kids. This experience

encouraged teamwork and led me to leadership opportunities. My junior and senior year, I was

one of the field commanders for the band. I learned so much about music and leadership from

this position. This encouraged me to major in music.

The marching band experience was not the only way I figured out that I wanted to teach

music, Mr. Leisten was also very helpful and inspirational. He came to Middletown when I was a

freshman in high school. Mr. Leisten brought excitement and energy back into the program. I

was the in Wind Ensemble all four years, and I observed him all that time. Middletown is a fairly

diverse district, and somehow he manages to get along with everyone and make a real

connection with all of his students. He knew how to get work done in the rehearsals by holding

us to high expectations, and showed us that our hard work paid off by taking us to large group

contest in the Spring. He would share feedback with the group, and we would take that

information and make something better the next time. I think the key to the band’s success was

whatever he did to make us want to play well. He was motivational and made me want to

become a music educator. I go back and see Mr. Leisten and Ms. Hoevel all of the time. They

have truly been great mentors and they continue pushing me to succeed.

During my K-12 education, music teachers were not my only great teachers. I loved

school and did really well in all of my classes. I was blessed with having great teachers most of

the time. The ones that I can remember clearly always had energy and found different ways of

saying things to help us understand concepts. They found ways to connect with the students

and seemed to really care about what was going on in our lives. Those teachers made an impact

in my life. I never wanted to let them down and I worked hard for them because I wanted to…

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not because I had to. I observed great teachers for years and saw the positive impact they had

on my life and others. I want to be a great teacher one day and do the same for my students.

Sandy Seefeld was another positive influence in my life. It is because of her that I ended

up at Miami University. Junior year, my flute teacher said she had taught me everything she

knew. She contacted Sandy and set up a time for us to meet. Sandy was the flute professor at

Miami and hadn’t taken a high school student in years, but surprisingly, she took me. I loved my

lessons with her. Once a week, my dad would drive me to Oxford, and we would do some of

the craziest things in my lessons. I remember bouncing on an exercise ball while playing,

blowing air into a windmill, playing notes on the piano, etc. Her methods were unconventional

and I loved it! I remember that I made progress every week. I auditioned on a Wednesday at

Miami in a little office with all of these professors and I was not being intimidated at all. Miami

felt like home. After my freshman year, Sandy retired, but we stay in touch and she continues to

be an inspirational person in my life.

Miami’s music education program is something special. The classes are small and all of

my teachers care… I think that’s been a trend in all of the teachers I have talked about so far. I

can go to any of my professors for advice about graduate school or where to start looking for a

job. Through all of my field experiences and methods classes I feel extremely prepared for what

lies ahead.

When I graduate, the perfect school would be one where the administration supports

the arts completely. I hope to have a program where we have adequate time to not only

rehearse for concerts, but promote comprehensive musicianship. Something that is being talked

about a great deal in music education is that we have national standards, but in our ensembles,

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we only address two, maybe three of the nine. I have been thinking of different ways to

incorporate more of the standards in my classroom one day.

This view also carries over to the way I view school in general. We should be educating

and advocating a well-rounded education. Focusing on answers to a test does not teach much. I

do not remember a lot of the content I “learned” in school. I remember the experiences I had

with other students and teachers. In this era of accountability and standardized tests, scores

are more important than the students. The students should always be first. Every subject is

important in a well-rounded education, and teachers need to communicate with each other

more to help give that to the students. If the students know that we truly care about their

success, then they will usually want to succeed for us. It’s funny how that works, but it does. The

number one thing is that my teachers cared and made me feel like I mattered. I want to do that

for my students. I want to encourage them all to succeed.

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