The only reason I'm a composer now is that I had Julia Wolfe as a teacher. I didn't know it at the time, but to have a teacher with whom I identified changed the direction of my life. I could ask the stupidest questions without being made fun of, and occasionally I still do.

I could ask about anything - health, housing, friends, family, how to pronounce a composer's name, contracts, even sometimes how to make my music less crappy. She always made me feel safe enough to ask, and so I kept asking, and I kept learning.

If you want to be a teacher, this is what you should aim to be. Be a safe person. Be warm. Be kind. Tell the truth (gently). So many of us are trained up to be professors without learning first how to be teachers.

We need BIPOC teachers, we need female teachers, we need GNC teachers, we need disabled teachers, we need teachers who grew up poor. Without you, there will be so many students who never get the safety and care they need to get to the point where they can begin to write music.

tl:dr become a teacher / love your students