Dreams

There are many great speeches and songs about dreams, for instance, “I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and “I woke up this morning with my mind on freedom..”

I woke up this morning myself dreaming very specifically. I don’t mind sharing my dream. It’s very specific, and lately, they usually are.

My dream was about my voice teacher Miss Florence Kopleff. We visited each other. We were outside walking. You see later in life, she could barely walk. I think that a leg was amputated from what I heard but she could walk briskly with me. We had a very nice conversation. She was my voice teacher at GSU in the late 80s and early 90s. We spoke about our time there. I didn’t tell her but she knew about my new position at the performing arts school that I will be at as faculty in the Fall.

We were able to honestly discuss my work at GSU as a student. You see, we didn’t get along as teacher and student. She was a screamer and I always shut down which I believed hindered my growth as a vocal student. I moved on to another studio after undergrad in college and did fine afterwards. However to this day, I don’t like people screaming at students even if they are passionate: I hear the scream but not the meaning behind the words.

You see: Miss Kopleff was a gifted singer. However, I had trouble learning from her. I should have went to another voice studio but I wasn’t placed in one. I wasn’t the only student who had trouble with her. I saw students walk out of her studio before. The personalities crashed, even with the best singers.

When she died, I hated her. I have since accepted my responsibility as a student in her vocal studio and asked forgiveness from God and moved on. However, maybe she knew that and we were able to speak honestly and freely with each other.

She told me what not to do and some of my issues in the past. I also spoke about my MA work later in life. We were walking the whole time outside in what seemed to be Washington D.C.

I asked if she wanted a cupcake. For some reason, I was thinking three cupcakes for Miss Kopleff, myself, and a third (maybe for Robert Shaw, the great ASO conductor).

I couldn’t think of the word: Sprinkles which is a cupcake company but could come up with the word, Cami-Cakes: go figure.

We stopped at an outside eatery. We met these young boys all in a straight line in front of us and one teenager in the middle called out Miss Kopleff by name: it was Pres. John F. Kennedy, Jr. However, he was a young kid in high school. He spoke to Miss Kopleff directly. Then, Pres. Jimmy Carter spoke to us. He was closer to me. Their features were very clear. These were young boys or teenagers. He was also a young kid, a teenager. He was to the right of Pres. JFK, Jr. a few boys were seated, then Pres. Jimmy Carter was seated. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was about 8-9 years old to my far left with a few (maybe two or three all together) other African-American boys. They seemed to be the only African-Americans there. In my Spirit or Soul, I knew who he was but it was not spoken aloud. He was giggling with some of his friends.

There was a whole line of young boys from what I could see in a straight line talking (some to her or us directly) as I was standing next to Miss Kopleff. Then, I woke up.

That was ten minutes ago since I wanted to preserve this dream in my blog and type it for posterity.

Maybe Miss Kopleff wanted to speak with me and knew that I had laid my issue with her to rest. She also knew my future and was happy for me although she never mentioned it.

I purposefully didn’t write everything that we spoke about since that is between us. Miss Kopleff will remain one of the most influential people in my personal development. I learned a lot of what I like and didn’t like as a student and now as a faculty member in the performing arts.

May she rest in peace, and may I move forward with great work in my present and future. I’ve accomplished great work in my past with multi-cultural and Latino students for the past twenty years. I’m happy to work with performing arts students in my future.

Ms. Geter