I graduated from the @uhmanoanews 20 years ago with my Bachelors of Arts in Psychology. It took me almost 2 years longer than it was supposed to because I was on academic suspension for a semester due to bad grades. I had a tuition waiver for music but I clearly took it for granted and there was a chance I wouldn’t graduate. That was a difficult time because a lot of my friends were in college and I had to figure out what I was going to do. The only connection to school I had during that semester off was music. Mr. Thomas Bingham was nice enough to let me play in his band class (including the concert) even though I wasn’t technically enrolled. That connection to school really helped motivate me to come back and eventually graduate. A tradition for the marching band was to play the “Rainbow Closer” at halftime of the last home game of the season. It was a medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which I was told was a favorite tune of his. I heard Mr. Bingham retired in July after more than 40 years of teaching, 35 of those years at UH Mānoa. #Mahalo Mr. Bingham! Enjoy your retirement. 🙏🏽🎵🤙🏽 (Over the Rainbow in the key of Bb from JazzKaraCh on youtube) #police #trombone #aiea #oahugrown