Why I chose to major in Music Education
One of those college entrance essay things.
Enjoy!
It is 8:30 on a Friday evening. First Semester finals just ended. Most of my friends are out together having fun, but I've been in my bedroom practicing the same two measures for the past twenty minutes. Why did Handel's trumpet piece have to be so difficult? Why do I need the fast Locrian runs to feel so flowing and effortless, when I am doing all I can just to keep filling my lungs with air and keep blood flowing to my frantic fingers? Why did I decide that I needed to spend hours a day practicing my trumpet instead of doing something...useful?
I take a moment to remember what has brought me to this point.
When I was in eighth grade, my Civics teacher, Mrs. Dunley, told me that with my test scores I was fit to be ruler of the universe (remember that? And some people were destined to become ship captains...lol. She was nuts). Knowing that I wanted to change the world someday, I decided that I would grow up to be a politician. This was not an unrealistic goal for me, since my interest in Mock Trial led me to contemplate a future in law school. However, as the years went by and I moved through high school, I grew skeptical of Politics. If the face of Humanity is going to change, it is going to change from the inside, not from the top. (Here's an article that helped me come to that conclusion. click here Totally worth the read)
I have always loved music. I was singing songs as soon as I learned to talk, and I jumped at the chance to join band in fifth grade. Right now it is my goal to become a music educator and performer. Music, especially my high school music program, has done so much for me. I know that if i can help provide music to youth for the rest of my life, I will be able to change the world.
Although I have always loved singing, playing my trumpet, composing, and performing, I was hesitant to become a music major. There were several sources of fear and uncertainty. Music is such a competitive field; I was worried that I would never be good enough. Also, it is difficult to find steady work as a performer, and jobs are scarce even for educators. I was very worried about making a living and my parents were quite concerned about my finacial security. Success in music requires an excess of discipline, knowledge, skill, heart, and inpiration. I eventually decided that the benefits of studying music outweigh the risks, and now I am willing to do whatever it takes to have a career in music, because I know that I would never be able to give it up. I knew that no matter what I chose for my career there would always be the fear of failure. Since I am so passionate about music, the fear is slowly becoming irrelevant. I am proud to be entering college as a Music Education major, and I know that no matter what happens to me in the future, I will be glad that I made that choice.
why is music so important? Humans are trapped inside of themselves. Technology forces us into seemingly efficient yet grossly inexpressive ways of communicating. In a world with an increasingly globablized economy, communication barriers are being broken down right and left, yet the individual remains isolated unless he has some way to relate to his past, his society, and his emotions. Music is that vehicle. Music forces us to be expressive; to not just speak, but to lesten, to understand, and to feel. Music frees us from our inner prisons and helps us to truly experience life, so that we are more than just robots.
Hopefully, with the skills that I've been developing over the past eight years and with the skills and experience I will gain from UNI, I will become effective with my trumpet performance so that I can help listeners connect to society. It is my aim to help other musicians to do the same. There is nothing better than helping and watching someone else grow.
Now it is 8:55 on that same Friday night. I turn off my metronome and do one last run through of the final movement to the Handel piece. The notes flow out of my horn like a cascading waterfall. Each note seems to have a life of its own. I get chills. This is what it is all about. This is what I have decided to dedicate my to.
Over the years my teachers have encouraged me to do great things in the fields of science, math, law and politics (.......maybe not math. or science. hehehehe...), but I decided that I want to change the world, so I decided to major in Music Education. Music has changed my life, and I hope that through my future performance and teaching, I can change others' lives as well.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
RIP MB
My thoughts as of 8:30 this morning:
I never saw this coming. Not in a million years. It's what all band geeks secretly hope for. Some not so secretly. But at any rate, several people are pleased that Hoover will no longer be doing marching band.
Or course, a few are upset. Many have looked forward to being in the band since they were younger. A marching band is the epitome of power, discipline, and majesty in the musical world. those who feel this way are now severely disappointed.
Marching band wasn't fun for most people, but as the first thing that happens in the school year, it brings us together and forces us to learn to work together. If it wasn't for marching band, I wouldn't know any of my classmates except for the two that sit right next to me. Marching band encourages student leadership, responsibility, and discipline, setting the tone for the whole school year.
Even the negative aspects of marching band bring us together. Marching band is the price of admission for the Hoover Band program. It serves as initiation. Everyone who is in band has had to sacrifice the August evenings to learning how to march. Everyone has had to wake up TOO early to make it on time to a 7:00 am rehearsal. Everyone has had to freeze their fingers off in October. Everyone has had to spend extra time standing at attention because Oswald and Bickle like to fidget. Everyone has been yelled at by Miss Young. Everyone has to wear the uniform, whether it be a symbol of pride or the stamp of dorkiness. These are all things that we suffered through together to form a common bond and a spirit of togetherness. People who suffer together can also celebrate together, which we did when we put on a great show.
What about the tradition? When are we going to do Maple Syrup? Will we still all go to Famous Dave's together?
Despite the great loss that this is to our band program, I can't ignore the positive opportunities. We finally get to start jazzband at the beginning of the year. EXCESSIVE JOY. The lack of marching band will save a ton of money for more worthwhile things. We don't have to deal with a marching band tone and mentality whilst we prepare for our all-state audition, which is really the most important thing anyway, isn't it? *has a violent coughing fit*
So this could prove to be very good for our band program. There are so many positive aspects of this decision that it is impossible to stop it.
There are so many changes in the band program lately that it's hard to focus on anything. It'll be strange to come back in a few years and talk to underclassmen who don't even understand what marching band is.
I kind of hated marching band, and I'm not going to pretend now that I always loved it and I want to keep it. But I did take a lot of pride in it. I'll never forget the day I marched on a sprained ankle because I didn't want to miss our last performance of the season. I was so looking forward to senior year. It's the year that we finally get some respect and recognition as reward for our three years of hard work in marching band. I guess mine will be the first senior class to not have a wearer of the golden dinkle, and I know that I always did really want to be drum major, but there are about a million other things to be excited about in the high school band world.
heheh...check this out: Click Here!
I never saw this coming. Not in a million years. It's what all band geeks secretly hope for. Some not so secretly. But at any rate, several people are pleased that Hoover will no longer be doing marching band.
Or course, a few are upset. Many have looked forward to being in the band since they were younger. A marching band is the epitome of power, discipline, and majesty in the musical world. those who feel this way are now severely disappointed.
Marching band wasn't fun for most people, but as the first thing that happens in the school year, it brings us together and forces us to learn to work together. If it wasn't for marching band, I wouldn't know any of my classmates except for the two that sit right next to me. Marching band encourages student leadership, responsibility, and discipline, setting the tone for the whole school year.
Even the negative aspects of marching band bring us together. Marching band is the price of admission for the Hoover Band program. It serves as initiation. Everyone who is in band has had to sacrifice the August evenings to learning how to march. Everyone has had to wake up TOO early to make it on time to a 7:00 am rehearsal. Everyone has had to freeze their fingers off in October. Everyone has had to spend extra time standing at attention because Oswald and Bickle like to fidget. Everyone has been yelled at by Miss Young. Everyone has to wear the uniform, whether it be a symbol of pride or the stamp of dorkiness. These are all things that we suffered through together to form a common bond and a spirit of togetherness. People who suffer together can also celebrate together, which we did when we put on a great show.
What about the tradition? When are we going to do Maple Syrup? Will we still all go to Famous Dave's together?
Despite the great loss that this is to our band program, I can't ignore the positive opportunities. We finally get to start jazzband at the beginning of the year. EXCESSIVE JOY. The lack of marching band will save a ton of money for more worthwhile things. We don't have to deal with a marching band tone and mentality whilst we prepare for our all-state audition, which is really the most important thing anyway, isn't it? *has a violent coughing fit*
So this could prove to be very good for our band program. There are so many positive aspects of this decision that it is impossible to stop it.
There are so many changes in the band program lately that it's hard to focus on anything. It'll be strange to come back in a few years and talk to underclassmen who don't even understand what marching band is.
I kind of hated marching band, and I'm not going to pretend now that I always loved it and I want to keep it. But I did take a lot of pride in it. I'll never forget the day I marched on a sprained ankle because I didn't want to miss our last performance of the season. I was so looking forward to senior year. It's the year that we finally get some respect and recognition as reward for our three years of hard work in marching band. I guess mine will be the first senior class to not have a wearer of the golden dinkle, and I know that I always did really want to be drum major, but there are about a million other things to be excited about in the high school band world.
heheh...check this out: Click Here!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Why do I Think the way I do?
This week was a crazy psycological rollercoaster of a spiritual journey.
It started out with desperate disillusionment. This happens occasionally when my pictures of the world are turned inside out by new information or insight. I won't share with you what started it, because none of you would understand. *curls up in her little emo corner*
In this vulnerable state I began to question my friendships. Who are those that I am really closest to? Am I making those relationships a priority? I've always believed that relationships are the most important building blocks of our lives. If those aren't worth anything, then what am I living for?
Then I began to ponder whether the things we leave behind are more important then the people we connect with. If it is indeed possible to really "connect" with anyone. *retreats again into the emo corner*
So I started analyzing the people around me. I didn't like what I saw. Nobody in this whole goshforsaken world seems to care about anyone but himself. All around me were lazy people, impatient people, stupid people, boring people, people who are too tall or too ugly or just generally hopeless.
This differs dramatically from my previous opinion that all people are good and have pure qualities that are revealed when one pays close and special attention. I also used to believe that everyone is equally physically beautiful. This week my mind was opened to the possibility that there are ugly, really ugly people out there.
So here are all these people with evil qualities and horrifying personality traits. Maybe they're not even trying! Does this make them...bad? Are there bad people in the world? What is a bad person, and how do they get to be that way? Were they just unfortunate in their childhood experiences? Or were they born that way? Is it a choice?
At least I'm not like that.
....am I?
.................what if I am?......
I need to fix it.
But the more I focused on trying to be a good person, the more frustrated I became.
And what about my "friends"? Are they good people? Are they hurting my goodness? Do they think I'm a good person? Do they love me? Who loves me??
It was as I lay trying to fall asleep after a long day of rehearsing at all-state music festival, in a hotel room with my very best friend on this earth that I remembered something that I learned a long time ago.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus"
-Romans 3:23-24
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
-Romans 6:23
Wow. Why was I so worried by the thought that there might be bad people in this world? Open your eyes, Katie, We're ALL bad people. We screw up and we make stnanks and we're lazy and selfish and we can't save ourselves, because no matter how witty you are, there is nothing charming enough to make your life less pathetic.
Lucky that there IS someone that loves you, that cares about you enough to pay a ginormous price to make up for your stnanks, for your human sickness and wrongness, to give you hope so that your life doesn't have to be grounded in this fault of humanity.
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
-Romans 6:8-12
What am I living for?
By the way:
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful"
-Psalm 139:14
We really are beautiful, because He made us.
And that's how I thought about a lot of things this week and ended up coming back to the most simple beliefs of the religion I was born into. Funny how that works.
*peace*
It started out with desperate disillusionment. This happens occasionally when my pictures of the world are turned inside out by new information or insight. I won't share with you what started it, because none of you would understand. *curls up in her little emo corner*
In this vulnerable state I began to question my friendships. Who are those that I am really closest to? Am I making those relationships a priority? I've always believed that relationships are the most important building blocks of our lives. If those aren't worth anything, then what am I living for?
Then I began to ponder whether the things we leave behind are more important then the people we connect with. If it is indeed possible to really "connect" with anyone. *retreats again into the emo corner*
So I started analyzing the people around me. I didn't like what I saw. Nobody in this whole goshforsaken world seems to care about anyone but himself. All around me were lazy people, impatient people, stupid people, boring people, people who are too tall or too ugly or just generally hopeless.
This differs dramatically from my previous opinion that all people are good and have pure qualities that are revealed when one pays close and special attention. I also used to believe that everyone is equally physically beautiful. This week my mind was opened to the possibility that there are ugly, really ugly people out there.
So here are all these people with evil qualities and horrifying personality traits. Maybe they're not even trying! Does this make them...bad? Are there bad people in the world? What is a bad person, and how do they get to be that way? Were they just unfortunate in their childhood experiences? Or were they born that way? Is it a choice?
At least I'm not like that.
....am I?
.................what if I am?......
I need to fix it.
But the more I focused on trying to be a good person, the more frustrated I became.
And what about my "friends"? Are they good people? Are they hurting my goodness? Do they think I'm a good person? Do they love me? Who loves me??
It was as I lay trying to fall asleep after a long day of rehearsing at all-state music festival, in a hotel room with my very best friend on this earth that I remembered something that I learned a long time ago.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus"
-Romans 3:23-24
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
-Romans 6:23
Wow. Why was I so worried by the thought that there might be bad people in this world? Open your eyes, Katie, We're ALL bad people. We screw up and we make stnanks and we're lazy and selfish and we can't save ourselves, because no matter how witty you are, there is nothing charming enough to make your life less pathetic.
Lucky that there IS someone that loves you, that cares about you enough to pay a ginormous price to make up for your stnanks, for your human sickness and wrongness, to give you hope so that your life doesn't have to be grounded in this fault of humanity.
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
-Romans 6:8-12
What am I living for?
By the way:
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful"
-Psalm 139:14
We really are beautiful, because He made us.
And that's how I thought about a lot of things this week and ended up coming back to the most simple beliefs of the religion I was born into. Funny how that works.
*peace*
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The only way to feel emotions...
...is to type all of your sporadic thoughts into a nifty little blog.
Here's my life story:
I am MT Nside.
I come in roughly once a week to occasionally sneeze.
I was terrified for a few moments roughly twenty minutes ago. Terrified of what?
I used the word roughly twice.
I'm a little stressed out, though I know that I'm not doing as much as I could be doing, and i absolutely NEVER (except for sometimes) do homework.
Hey, okay? I'm worried because i have an important audition coming up.
And I'm sad because I auditioned for the play and didn't make it. *Sad Day*
*Das Yad*
Huh. I thought this blog would be longer. I guess i just don't have that many thoughts any more. It make me feel stupid to see everything laid out like that...
Yay! But since you went to all the trouble to read this, I might as well make up a fun little story to make it worth your while.
I found the basement of Hoover High School. Living in it were three men: Coach Tate, Mr. Boughman, and the former drama instructor. they were living off spam and baked beans, worship-ing a giant octopus. when I called them on the octopus thing they came to their senses and decided to come out of the basement and become Hoover High School's new and improved Mock Trial Coaches/Teacher Sponsors. Now every Monday nite the Mock Trial team visits spaghetti works downtown to hear live funk music played by the Celebration Iowa JazzBand, which lives in Nebraska.
The End.
Here's my life story:
I am MT Nside.
I come in roughly once a week to occasionally sneeze.
I was terrified for a few moments roughly twenty minutes ago. Terrified of what?
I used the word roughly twice.
I'm a little stressed out, though I know that I'm not doing as much as I could be doing, and i absolutely NEVER (except for sometimes) do homework.
Hey, okay? I'm worried because i have an important audition coming up.
And I'm sad because I auditioned for the play and didn't make it. *Sad Day*
*Das Yad*
Huh. I thought this blog would be longer. I guess i just don't have that many thoughts any more. It make me feel stupid to see everything laid out like that...
Yay! But since you went to all the trouble to read this, I might as well make up a fun little story to make it worth your while.
I found the basement of Hoover High School. Living in it were three men: Coach Tate, Mr. Boughman, and the former drama instructor. they were living off spam and baked beans, worship-ing a giant octopus. when I called them on the octopus thing they came to their senses and decided to come out of the basement and become Hoover High School's new and improved Mock Trial Coaches/Teacher Sponsors. Now every Monday nite the Mock Trial team visits spaghetti works downtown to hear live funk music played by the Celebration Iowa JazzBand, which lives in Nebraska.
The End.
Monday, July 14, 2008
My Prayer
my thoughts on a quiet bus ride across Iowa:
Don't let me forget who I am
And how I got here
And let me pull through
Bring me to the place
Where I need no comfort
Or safety
Because everything I need
Is in you.
Help me find a way
To show these people
What really matters, Bo
And show them how much I love them
And help me to love myself
Maintain the slightest bit of dignity
But throw my silly self-perception out the door
and away.
Don't let me forget who I am
And everything I've been through
Show me how to leave my comfort zone
Show me how to be
The perfect servant
And what you intended for me
Thank you for the music
That brought me here
And keeps me here
Tying me back to my past
And driving me towards my future
Let the music show me
Who I really am.
Don't let me forget who I am
And how I got here
And let me pull through
Bring me to the place
Where I need no comfort
Or safety
Because everything I need
Is in you.
Help me find a way
To show these people
What really matters, Bo
And show them how much I love them
And help me to love myself
Maintain the slightest bit of dignity
But throw my silly self-perception out the door
and away.
Don't let me forget who I am
And everything I've been through
Show me how to leave my comfort zone
Show me how to be
The perfect servant
And what you intended for me
Thank you for the music
That brought me here
And keeps me here
Tying me back to my past
And driving me towards my future
Let the music show me
Who I really am.
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