In my case, it was a negative experience (at the time) that threw me into my flute. I was about 16 and entered the NY Flute Club competition. I was THOROUGHLY outclassed by all the flutists that day. Just listening to people warming up made me cringe about my own playing. I didn't play badly, I was simply out of my league. What made it worse was that I didn't realize my teacher would be on the judging panel. Ugh!! It was so embarrassing. At my next lesson she said, "I did what I could for you." This only rubbed salt into the wound. What made it worse, was that she commented that some of the flutists she heard made her want to practice more ... Oh man, they were even better than I'd originally thought. After licking my wounds, I picked up my flute and practiced even harder. I discovered a passion for the instrument ... or i simply may have had a psychotic break. I don't know, but the bottom line is that it threw me into my flute and had me hunker down and get to work.

@Sarah MacDonald Exactly!!! Either the flute goes in the trash, or you go into the practice room.

Pieces whose origin is from the French School, in my opinion, is crtical to a flutists development. While all flutists can benefit, but if you're on a professional track, I think it's essential. 1) You learn how to count. This is not Bach or Mozart where everything is mostly on the down or upbeat 2) You learn to be smooth: Whether it be Chaminade, Hue, Gannes, et. al. you need to make sure that those nontuplets, followed by an Octuplet, followed by a decatuplet doesn't "feel" like you're using a metronome. I remember once finally getting those odd tuplets smooth and the FEEL was like waves in the Ocean. Fast waves, followed by more languid ones. You need to create the Experience for the user. 3) For me, there's something about the French School that has me think "Mood". Some notes need to be full and expressive; while some notes might benefit from a more ethereal sound. Take the opening to the Enesco. All pieces should be played with accuracy and feel, but there's something about the French School where "Mood" and/or "Feel" play a huge role ... on top of the technical challenges. You get all those elements working together and baby, you're a star (well, in my book anyway)