Great Movie - Mr. Holland's Opus

The values that I saw in Mr. Holland were those of creativity, renowned and maybe a bit of wealth. He saw being a teacher as a means of allowing him the opportunity to seek what he really wanted in life. As a teacher there was always something that required more of his time, taking away from what he thought was the thing he most wanted. You could see a transformation in him and his values as the movie went on. When he looked outside of his personal desires, he was able to really do something good with his talents and time. He influenced many people, and in the process he did create something better than what he even would have. I think that when he looked at his "opus" and recognized each person and situation at the end of his teaching career he had to have realized how each of these people influenced his ability to reach his dream, he would not have without them, and they would not be who they are without him. His values changed to be more about his family, his community; he became a really good person. For me I thought that it is really important to know what you want, but to not get so caught up in seeking it that you lose the opportunities to become more. You can become a better person when you use your talents and abilities to serve and teach and influence others. The movie also made me really think about what is happening in society that influences parts of every moment of our lives. I think that sometimes changes are so gradual: politics, wars, are just a part of today; we forget what an impact they have on our decisions, our lives, and who we are. Seeing a span of so many years in one person’s life, using the reality of that time was powerful. I was really sad to see music and arts taken out of the schools because of budgets. My children’s school raises $40,000 a year to keep arts, I had not really considered all the schools that are going without those experiences until seeing this portrayed, very sad. Two things from the movie that I was left to really consider....one in 1965 when the US president was quoted saying "as there are men who hate and destroy we will resist, we must stand". This parallels what we are dealing with today, and as always we can learn a lot from our history. And second at the end of the movie when one of the characters says, "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans." I think that as far as the person that I want to become being influenced by this movie, I certainly would like to be able to see outside of my own dreams and interests to acknowledge the people who are a part of my life, realizing that by living everyday to its best being who I am and caring about others around me I will be able to achieve what I want, and probably something even better.