“All good things must come to an end” – a well-known idiom that expresses the unfortunate conclusiveness of any given period of time. It’s a sad day for any teacher when the “end” arrives, but Cathedral Catholic’s musical instructor Mr. Tim Foley finds the sweetness in his final year at the school.

“Leaving is bitter sweet…It will be good to move on… it’s exciting because anything is possible right now; there’s not many times in your life where you can say that. I kind of feel like I’m graduating,” said Mr. Foley.

Mr. Foley started teaching at Cathedral in 2006, when he, “kind of fell into teaching,” he said. “I was offered a long term assignment at Saints, and I sort of stuck with it. I then taught music and religion at St. Charles Borromeo Academy in Point Loma for a couple years, then moved over to CCHS to do music ministry.”

After 10 years of instruction, training, and even learning from his own students, Mr. Foley has had an enlightening and one-of-a-kind experience at Cathedral Catholic High School.

“The most rewarding part about teaching is the relationships I build with my students and their families. I don’t do this job for the money – meaning I could make more money doing something else – but I love the lifestyle of teaching and the students as well. What blows me away is that every year I love the students more,” said Mr. Foley.

Over the years, Mr. Foley has identified changes in education as a whole, astonished by its modifications. “The biggest change no doubt is technology and how it’s incorporated in the classroom… every few years it advances exponentially. If you ask people that graduated just four years ago, they would probably say the same thing,” he said.

While his optimism is encouraging to say the least, Mr. Foley will miss the various retreats, creating music with students, and the music ministry altogether.

“As teachers we have to say good bye to beloved students every year. But they always know where to find you. Now that I’m leaving the community, there’s a sense that I won’t be as connected to everyone as much anymore,” said Mr. Foley. “I will be sad to leave the memories.”

Mr. Foley is working on his career in music, planning to release a CD by the end of the year. All is not lost for students looking to keep in touch with him, as they can find him on Facebook at timfoleymusic, or by visiting his website.