I met Ms. Judy D. when I was in the fifth grade. She was the director of the band I recently joined, a band in which I volunteered to play something called a saxophone. It wasn’t easy, this band thing. I had problems blowing certain notes or not being able to get the timing of songs correct, but through it all, Ms. Judy D. kept telling me there is no such word as “can’t.” She spent many nights after school helping me get intonation correct and harder pieces of music into my system. She taught so well that I eventually went to competitions where I received a couple of first places. The school had mini courses, one of which Ms. Judy D. taught how to conduct a band. I took that course. Later, she had me conduct the band for “Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.” Yup, this scared kid had to go out in front of the band to conduct the music they were about to play while the audience was behind my back. I’ll never forget that last note, my arms out in front of me, getting ready to stop the band at just the right time. I was shocked I didn’t wet my pants right there on that podium. I stopped the band, the audience applauded, my fellow band members nodding and smiling, and then, and THEN…Ms. Judy D. came around the back of the band with this smile on her face, with that twinkle in her eye she had when any of her students did well. And she was applauding me—and of course the band—but she made me feel as if I was good at something. Throughout my life, I had taken what Ms. Judy D. had taught me. I’ve played in pit bands for musicals, concert bands, Big Bands, and many other bands. Yet, it has not been only in the music world in which I took what I had learned. In my other endeavors, I had also taken the most important thing she taught me: There is no such word as “can’t.”