Luciano Pavarotti said that when he was a boy, his father, a baker, introduced him to the wonders of song. He urged him to work hard to develop his voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy, took him as a pupil. Pavarotti also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, he asked his father, "Shall I be a teacher or a singer?" "Luciano," his father replied, "if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair." Pavarotti, later in life wrote: "I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book, whatever we choose we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."