The Big Fish Little Pond Effect

I had a student once who was an enormous fish in this teeny tiny pond of little musicians who all looked up to him as if he were Heaven-sent to play cello with them. He was beloved in my program and really was a good cellist with great potential. But his arrogance was a huge issue for him as he began to compete for chairs in All-State and eventual college acceptance as a cello performance major. I remember thinking “Such a big fish may struggle in a sea of sharks once he gets to college”