Getting excited about Tucson...
First the good news: I was slightly disappointed when I reviewed the UA offer letter because it said, “The assistantship waives the non-resident tuition surcharge, and a portion of the resident registration fees.” I inquired as to “what is a portion of the resident registration fees?” because in the original advertisement for the assistantship it said all out of state and 90% of resident. When I emailed the vice director who had sent out the assistantship letter, he informed me that it was only going to be 50% because the assistantship is only ¼ time. I looked over the tuition schedule and that was going to put me at paying $1,000-1,500 a semester instead of $350. I was not pleased, but still planned to accept the offer. Today I got an email from the clarinet teacher with a forwarded letter from the vice director. Here we go with a little more email cut and paste:
Dear Candidates for the Wind Quintet Graduate Assistantships:
The offer letter you all received has raised several questions.
1. In our advertisement we stated that the University of Arizona
would cover full out-of-state tuition and 90% of the resident fees.
After we released that advertisement we learned that the remission of
resident fees would be only 50%. We want to reassure you that the
School of Music will identify scholarship monies to cover that gap so
that the award will cover the resident fees at 90% as originally
advertised.
That is a big relief for me! That amount is the difference between having to take out student loans and not having to. *score*
Another bit of good news is that after some research, I found a Music & Arts in Tucson. If I could snag a couple of teaching days, that would be perfect! I called the store and when I mentioned clarinet, they asked me to send my resume over right away. Apparently they need a clarinet teacher? *crosses fingers* Additionally, I found other stores/ music academies that looked promising. Before I was under the impression it wasn't possible to get music related work in Tucson, but now I'm more optimistic.
My friend Devin has been offered the oboe spot in the quintet. I'm excited by this because we play well together and it would be awesome to know at least one person when I go out there. The oboe teacher made it sound like teaching as well as some playing gigs really are available. All positive. My only negative feeling about it was that I don't want this accomplishment to be diminished. Devin is an incredible player, so I don't want people to think, “Oh, they both got it, it must have been really easy to get.” We happened to run into this opportunity with very good timing, that is true, but point is, we're both qualified.
Lastly, I've been practicing really hard (for the modern music concert and my solo performance next week in masterclass). I'm very happy with how I'm sounding. Yay!
The bad news: Since this weekend, I've been experiencing what I believe to be pain from one of my rotting wisdom teeth. I've had to steadily take ibuprofen (occasionally acetaminophen) to keep the pain under control. Yesterday and the day before the pain woke me up early (not entirely a bad thing since I ended up using the time well). At least the medicine is working (usually ibuprofen doesn't touch my headaches). I'm so worried I'm going to wake-up one day in complete agony and the side of my face will be all swollen. Please, please, please, let me last a week and a half! Then I will be done with all important performances and can go ahead and get my teeth out.
Dear Candidates for the Wind Quintet Graduate Assistantships:
The offer letter you all received has raised several questions.
1. In our advertisement we stated that the University of Arizona
would cover full out-of-state tuition and 90% of the resident fees.
After we released that advertisement we learned that the remission of
resident fees would be only 50%. We want to reassure you that the
School of Music will identify scholarship monies to cover that gap so
that the award will cover the resident fees at 90% as originally
advertised.
That is a big relief for me! That amount is the difference between having to take out student loans and not having to. *score*
Another bit of good news is that after some research, I found a Music & Arts in Tucson. If I could snag a couple of teaching days, that would be perfect! I called the store and when I mentioned clarinet, they asked me to send my resume over right away. Apparently they need a clarinet teacher? *crosses fingers* Additionally, I found other stores/ music academies that looked promising. Before I was under the impression it wasn't possible to get music related work in Tucson, but now I'm more optimistic.
My friend Devin has been offered the oboe spot in the quintet. I'm excited by this because we play well together and it would be awesome to know at least one person when I go out there. The oboe teacher made it sound like teaching as well as some playing gigs really are available. All positive. My only negative feeling about it was that I don't want this accomplishment to be diminished. Devin is an incredible player, so I don't want people to think, “Oh, they both got it, it must have been really easy to get.” We happened to run into this opportunity with very good timing, that is true, but point is, we're both qualified.
Lastly, I've been practicing really hard (for the modern music concert and my solo performance next week in masterclass). I'm very happy with how I'm sounding. Yay!
The bad news: Since this weekend, I've been experiencing what I believe to be pain from one of my rotting wisdom teeth. I've had to steadily take ibuprofen (occasionally acetaminophen) to keep the pain under control. Yesterday and the day before the pain woke me up early (not entirely a bad thing since I ended up using the time well). At least the medicine is working (usually ibuprofen doesn't touch my headaches). I'm so worried I'm going to wake-up one day in complete agony and the side of my face will be all swollen. Please, please, please, let me last a week and a half! Then I will be done with all important performances and can go ahead and get my teeth out.