Interview with Jian Mostaghim '21
Recent graduate Jian Mostaghim '21 has been spending his Tuesday afternoons back on campus working with Potomac fifth grade cellists. An accomplished musician who has performed at esteemed venues like the Kennedy Center, Jian is a graduate of Potomac's Visual and Performing Arts Concentration (VPAC) and recently returned as a guest performer at the 2022 VPAC Recital. It's special to see alumni returning to campus to serve as inspiration for current students, and Jian has done even more, working directly with young Potomac musicians.
Adela Wynn, IS and US strings teacher, shares, “Even when Jian was a student, he was happy to work with younger students. His advanced skills and his calm, kind, friendly manner made this peer tutoring extremely effective. Because of COVID, Jian was not able to work with MS and IS students in his junior and senior years. This year, when I wanted to provide my beginning cellists with some focused attention from a cello specialist, of course I thought of Jian! He was delighted to come in to work with the students, and they love learning from 'Mr. Mostaghim.' He always has a plan to bolster students who may be struggling a bit or to elevate the skills of those who are ready to move faster.”
Q&A with Jian
What are you working on with the fifth graders?
I have tried to improve things like their ability to shift on the instrument, their sense of rhythm, and their ability to identify notes on the fingerboard.
What advice would you give to current students?
If you are a current Potomac School student, please, if nothing else, do the following: Learn our five core values by heart (which can be memorized using the acronym CHIRP - Courage, Humility, Integrity, Respect, Perseverance) and recite them for Mr. Wicker. You will bring him joy; you don't even have to say that Jian sent you, even though I wouldn't mind that. Also, show respect to your teachers. They do a lot of work behind the scenes that you take for granted. Third, try your best to learn for the sake of learning. I will be a little more lenient about this one, since I understand how easy it may be to slip into the competitive, cynical attitude that I am sure at least some students have about school. Even if you are naturally inclined to have a competitive or cynical attitude about your education, you can still try to "fake it 'til you make it." Start pretending that you want to learn for the sake of learning, instead of just for sake of getting the grade, and I bet that after a number of weeks or even days, you may begin to notice a genuine change in your attitude toward school. And who knows, your grades may improve too!"
What advice would you give to students interested in VPAC?
If you are passionate about the arts, then VPAC is a good choice. If you feel that the arts are more important to you than athletics or other academic or co-curricular pursuits, you might regret not applying for VPAC.
What is a favorite memory from your time at Potomac?
One of the many memorable details about my career as a Potomac student is how often students sacrificed their time and expertise to help each other with academic assignments. One time, a student named Kevin, who was in the grade above me, spent a lot of time helping me with my math homework. I remember feeling very grateful for that. I hope the same can be said for future generations of Potomac School students.
If you could go back, what might you do differently?
I think I would have spent a little more time attending sports games and student-led events, in order to show more support for the hard work of my classmates outside of academics. I probably didn't do it as much as I should have, and spending more time attending extracurricular events would have enriched my own experience, as well as the experience of my peers.
What are your future plans?
I am currently working on the first movement of Haydn's second cello concerto, which is probably one of the harder pieces I have been exposed to so far. Its main motif seems to have a lighthearted, calm mood, less grand and celebratory than the main motif of his first concerto.
To be completely honest, I don't really have much of an idea of what I want my future to look like. I have taken a gap year this year, and I hope to find something that interests me once I start my first semester of college in the fall. I hope that whatever decision I make I don't regret, and that I don't do too many things that I will regret in general, in my young-adult life. That's pretty much all I have to say about the future as of right now!
Ms. Wynn concludes, “It’s really a pleasure to work with Jian as a graduate. I’m grateful that he has made time for our young musicians.” We agree and wish Jian well as he embarks on his next adventure.