A Year Wrapped Up in Lists
As my last final approaches, I am drawn to self-reflect on just what an amazing start of my college career I’ve had. This is going to be a post of lists, because don’t want to forget any of it!
Classes/Professors I’ve been lucky enough to take—a total of 18 classes over two semesters.
- (Honors) Astronomy, with a professor who still invites us to dinner and on hikes
- Phil. of Music education with a truly inspiring (and initially terrifying) professor that I have since traveled to Dallas with and performed under.
- Theory 1 with a member of the Nashville Symphony who has taken us to the symphony/opera and hosts dinner parties in her apartment
- Theory 2 with just an awesomely “hip” professor that made 8 am bare-able.
- Keyboarding Skills 1 and 2 with a Julliard-trained, Carnegie-Hall soloist professor
- Applied [Private] Voice from an absolutely fabulous voice professor who took what my last teacher was doing with me and ran with it.
- English, Latin, and Italian Diction
- (Honors) Philosophy
- World of Music (Ethnomusicology).
- Speech
This year, I’ve performed
- In dozens (give or take) of concerts, from the Elijah and Messiah to mens community choir/choral lab student-conducted renaissance music.
- In several Schola recordings in Nashville
- In Mozart’s Opera, The Magic Flute as a slave/ensemble member
- As a swing ensemble character in the Cannon County Center for the Arts production of 9 to 5
- Caroling at senior retirement homes with NAfME
I’ve adventured to
- Surviving tornadoes
- White water raft the Ocoee River
- Hike several trails (one of which with my astronomy professor!), and climbing huge rock stacks (again, with my astronomy professor!)
- Exploring confederate graveyards and battlegrounds
- Historic towns such as Bell Buckle (where the MoonPie was created!)
- Nashville clubs and stores
- The Grand Ol’ Opry christmas display
- Atlanta City to visit my mom while she was studying at Emory
- Johnson City and Louisville, KY for thanksgiving with my friend’s family
- North Carolina to visit ECU and New Berg (Nicholas Sparks’ hometown)
I’ve watched/attended
- Literally dozens of student/ensemble performances, with international guest artists ($0).
- MTSU theatre productions of Funny Thing… Forum and Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus
- The Mahler Symphony No. 8 at the Nashville Symphony (a symphony of a “thousand”) ($0)
- Cabaret at Tennessee Rep ($10)
- Nashville Opera’s The Magic Flute ($0)
- Nashville Symphony’s Ring Cycle Selections ($0)
- The Uncle Dave Macon Day’s Press Conference/preview (with Ricky Skaggs sitting in front of me) ($0) (find my report on this from a couple weeks ago further back on this blog)
- A conference on how DOMA is affecting gays in the military with the soldier who was booed at the GOP convention
I’ve boosted my professional resume with
- a trip to Dallas, TX for the American Choral Directors Association’s National Conference (on scholarship). Still reeling from what a great, educational, and inspirational trip that was.
- Joining and attending regional NAfME (National Association for Music Educators) workshops
- Helping out as “Assistant Music Director” for Cannon County’s Little Mermaid Jr. (still surprised at that title—I just came in and sightread the accompaniment and coached the kids as a sub haha)
- Having photography published in The Tennessean, as well as used for publicity. Also taking head shots of friends to boost my portfolio! (Photography is my new, non-music hobby. All music majors need a hobby that’s not music to keep them sane)
And, last but most certainly not least, I’ve made some truly amazing friends.
Tennessee, to quote my high school yearbook, “it’s been real.” I’ve had ample opportunities here, and bonded with my teachers more than I ever imagined possible at this large public university.
And yet, while I have truly enjoyed my time here, it’s long past time for me to go home. The genteel southern culture is nice and all (and has kick-ass sweet tea), but I cannot wait to go home to where the culture cherishes who I am— not who I should be, and where the mountains provide irresistible hikes. :)
