Learning! Do It!

A kid has a right to learn, doesn't he/she?

If a kid has incentive to learn, they can take necessary steps to learn what they want to learn, without intervention.

Granted that they will have other things to focus on first, they can still get their main priorities finished first, opening a door to personal gratification. No one ever said to skip main priorities before fulfulling personal inquires and/or interests.

If in the process of taking necessary steps to LEARN, and are told they shouldn't, can't, or are sterotypically said they don't have the ability, then they are being denied of a

Learning Experience.

And isn't that

Oppression?

Why is a kid denied in trying to gain themself a personal experience? If they want to learn something, why do they have to do it on their own when they have teachers at school to help them, or can at least give them the resources? Why do they have to say, "It's not on our curriculum." or "That's not school relevant. Try something else." or "You need to focus on one thing at a time, and only that."

Ok, so here's my story.

I play trumpet, and I've played since the 5th grade. 7 years, just about. When I was at the middle school band orientation, I wanted to start out with percussion, but I was shot down, made fun of and stomped on with that thought. Ok, so maybe not that dramamtic, but mom believed I'd be stuck with the triangle, and that's it. Yes, drummers are waaay too common, but I wanted to have FUN. Can't a kid have FUN, and not work a day in his life?
So instead, I went with trumpet. I won't lie, I love playing the trumpet. It's fun, and I'm told I'm a natural. But, even though I play trumpet, I always, ALWAYS, pay attention to the percussion section. I listen to how they get off the beat, drag, or rush. I listen to the tips, tricks and hints given by teachers or advisors. I would watch my band director whenever he helps out the drummer, and pick up on anything that could help.

But, even though I could see it, I never had the resources to put it into action. Mom never wanted to hear the noise, and it was expensive at the time. (And I have an $1100 trumpet?!)
Well, when my chance arrives this year to play drums/percussion, I'm once again shot down. I wanted to play percussion in band class once, just ONCE, and have a little fun in a learning experience. Thrice I begged, but I never got through. I first argued that my driector was denying me of a learning experience, but he 'whatever'-ed me. I wasn't as serious then as I am now, but it's true. I was denied of a learning experience.

So today, I was jamming out on the set, practicing what little I knew with the sticks that I bought myself, when the director walked in. I asked him immediately how much he charged for drum lessons, just to show how serious I was about learning the drums. He blew me off, again, saying what I need was trumpet lessons. Well, I did have them, when I screwed up and now have to pay for them myself. So now I don't anymore, because I don't have money. Well, I do now with my job, but I'm willing to pay for drum lessons, both if I'm up to it. (time is an issue too, but let's not go into that)

The director basically told me I need to focus on the trumpet. Well, people tell me I'm a natural, so I guess I'll say I'm pretty good at the level I'm at. I can easily sight read the music in band class, and need work on jazz band music, but I hardly practice and manage apparently just fine. My range sucks, but I can do everything else just fine.

Ok, trumpet is just fine, and I feel like I focus enough on it. Now though, I play more than just trumpet. I play piano, took lessons for a while, but quit, so now it's not very important and not really worth mentioning to me. I taught myself how to play the bass, learning slap and funk. I got pretty good at it too over the summer.

Now if you know me, you know that I LOVE learning, and I can't get enough knowledge. and I want to learn drums. Badly. So why deny me, oppress me of my incentive to learn something new? I should be able to take the intiative to learn drums.
So now I have. I've stayed after school 3 times already and jammed out on the drums. Can't the director see I want to? I'm not trying to quit the freakin' trumpet! Whatever gave anyone that idea? I play 2 other instrumets alongside with trumpet. What's one more?

So, at least he said he'll teach me a thing or two next week, and I'm gonna hold that to him. I could go on, but I already know I sound like a brat, but if I want to learn drums, it's something I gotta strive for, work for, regardless of being shot down by people that think I probably couldn't pull it off. Well, the best players couldn't pull anything off their first few months. I couldn't do diddly squat when I started the trumpet.Yeah, I could go on sounding like a rebellious teenager, but my arguement is thought through, and I've already kind of given up trying to play percussion in band. It's just on my own time when I want to learn, practice, gain a learning experience.

So, if you want to learn something, just freakin' do it. No one's holding you back. And if they are, tell them they're denying you a learning experience, a natural human right. Fight for your right. If they think they know what's better for you, tell them again that learning experiences are the way to go, and to deny someone of a learning experience is showing how much they might think is good for you, but a learning experience is a learning experience. You can get away with something like that, right? So just do it. Get out there, be heard! Learn something you've always wanted to learn! Only fools are scared.