Dr. Larsen was one of the greatest educators I had had the privilege to learn from and I am so grateful that I had the chance to have known him. Even though I was horrible at piano and was more interested in other genres of music, he encouraged me and took me on as one of his piano students when I was a freshman at Simpson. Although I wasn't the best pianist, he didn't give up on me and pushed me to work even harder at getting better to further my study of music. I'm sure my stories of him aren't nearly as impactful as others but when the time came for me to take my proficiency, I passed and it was genuinely all thanks to him. He had spent the last two years patiently teaching me, and I mean very patiently considering how not good I was, and he was so proud of me when he told me I passed. It was honestly one of the proudest moments of my education and a moment I was most proud of myself. And it was all thanks to him. He always knew that I was more interested in pursuing jazz and continually encouraged me and supported me in doing so. He would ask me to bring my guitar to our piano lessons to perform him the songs that I loved and never made me feel like less of a musician for not wanting to pursue a career in opera or classical music. Even when I had decided to transfer schools after my sophomore year at Simpson, he was the one who told me to insist on auditioning for other schools with my type of music along with the music I was learning in school. He was a good person and he treated me with kindness when I needed guidance in school and outside of it. I will greatly miss him and I wish I had spent more time with him after I transfered. He'll always be a role model to me in my music and I hope that I'll get to see him again one day. Thank you Dr. Larsen.