Professor, what's another word for pirate treasure?

(5 pts to whoever gets that title reference)

I don't really see myself being a university voice teacher someday. Mostly because I am not passionate about teaching, and I am not 100% sure that I know what I'm doing. After all, just because I know HOW to sing, doesn't mean I know how to teach. We all know that all great singers are not great teachers.
My only real experience teaching, save this past year, was in undergrad- teaching uninterested middle schoolers whose parents forced them into lessons, and a few random college kids who never practiced. Needless to say, I didn't have a whole lot to go on. Not to mention the fact that I was still learning myself; but, then again, I'm always learning. It's never a done deal.
Anyway, I took on a student last fall, and I was a bit nervous. She's my age, maybe a few years younger, in grad school at Hopkins, and told me she had studied voice privately in high school. Mkay. Well, I was very pleasantly surprised at our first lesson, when she told me she was comfortable singing in Italian, and wanted to learn classical technique. So off we went!
It's been 6 months since we first started working together, and I have noticed a real improvement. Thankfully, all the basics were there before she came to me, but I helped her learn to breathe, raise that pallette, "ng" and that blooming feeling, and diction/language. Last night, after coaching the recitative before Deh Vieni, she said to me, "I have to tell you, I am really pleased with the way I sound. I feel like I have a lot more control, like my voice has grown a bit, and I have a better understanding on how the voice works." Wow. I was really flattered, and I felt good about myself! Apparently, I do know how to communicate and it is actually helping someone. Whoda thunk?