Funky Monkey
I totally overextended myself this semester, and I have 10 weeks left...
I go pretty much 8am to midnight everyday without a single break. I eat lunch and dinner in my practice room and basically have no social calendar. The only motives of social interaction I get are in classes or at recitals. Sigh.
I take 17 hours, work 3 jobs, practice (not enough), and help out with all these crazy things on campus. One day I will figure out my limit and not surpass it, but this semester was certainly not that time. I'm considering moving off campus next year, which will alleviate me one job (the RA job) and then more free hours in my schedule. It will also be helpful to not get kicked out of my dorm and have to find all these extraneous places to live when I come back for the summer, stay late for holidays, or whatever the reason I need to stay in Birmingham are. I just need to a roommate, since my prospective roommate dropped and said she was staying on campus another year.
This accompanying gig that I picked up this semester is a lot more than "just two hours a week" since I'm given new pieces every week to practice and these are not sight read-able pieces. I pretty much devote at least 30-45 minutes a day preparing these pieces and it's kind of overwhelming having like 12 pieces stare at you needing to get learned. Oh, and there's more on the way...
RA isn't bad. I have gone back to having 20 girls, which is so nice, but there's this one conflict that won't resolve itself and it's over the most immature thing...noise. I just wish this girl would grow up and realize that these girls do not have to shut up at 3 pm just because you're studying. GO TO THE LIBRARY. Anyways, that's about the only drama with that.
I picked up 2 new students teaching, so I now teach 9 students and teach anywhere between 6-8 hours a week. I'm getting paid awesome money for it, and it's added variety to my teaching since I'm now teaching some truly beginners, some in the 1A book, and some in the 1B book. But, it's just a lot of time. And I have to write all the group lesson places and export graphics from Sibelius, etc. and that also takes up time.
I had my first competition of the semester on Friday, and I didn't do as well as I expected. I placed third and got $1200 towards tuition, but I definitely wanted to place higher than that. But, my Beethoven (which was learned/memorized in a month) just wasn't secure enough. So, that was quite the disappointment. There's always next year.
I'm just looking forward to the end of the semester, not only for summer and 2 months of just playing piano, but there will be no more Theory or Theory Lab and no more Organ. Seriously, not having to sign up for those 3 classes is enough to get me through the semester.
I really just wish I had time. Or to be 21 and drown in my despair with a margarita. So, I'm sorry for being super lax and like not talking to anyone this whole semester. One day I will call/text you all and see how life is going for you. Until then, I will be hiding away in my practice room with some Chopin and a metronome.
This too shall pass...
I go pretty much 8am to midnight everyday without a single break. I eat lunch and dinner in my practice room and basically have no social calendar. The only motives of social interaction I get are in classes or at recitals. Sigh.
I take 17 hours, work 3 jobs, practice (not enough), and help out with all these crazy things on campus. One day I will figure out my limit and not surpass it, but this semester was certainly not that time. I'm considering moving off campus next year, which will alleviate me one job (the RA job) and then more free hours in my schedule. It will also be helpful to not get kicked out of my dorm and have to find all these extraneous places to live when I come back for the summer, stay late for holidays, or whatever the reason I need to stay in Birmingham are. I just need to a roommate, since my prospective roommate dropped and said she was staying on campus another year.
This accompanying gig that I picked up this semester is a lot more than "just two hours a week" since I'm given new pieces every week to practice and these are not sight read-able pieces. I pretty much devote at least 30-45 minutes a day preparing these pieces and it's kind of overwhelming having like 12 pieces stare at you needing to get learned. Oh, and there's more on the way...
RA isn't bad. I have gone back to having 20 girls, which is so nice, but there's this one conflict that won't resolve itself and it's over the most immature thing...noise. I just wish this girl would grow up and realize that these girls do not have to shut up at 3 pm just because you're studying. GO TO THE LIBRARY. Anyways, that's about the only drama with that.
I picked up 2 new students teaching, so I now teach 9 students and teach anywhere between 6-8 hours a week. I'm getting paid awesome money for it, and it's added variety to my teaching since I'm now teaching some truly beginners, some in the 1A book, and some in the 1B book. But, it's just a lot of time. And I have to write all the group lesson places and export graphics from Sibelius, etc. and that also takes up time.
I had my first competition of the semester on Friday, and I didn't do as well as I expected. I placed third and got $1200 towards tuition, but I definitely wanted to place higher than that. But, my Beethoven (which was learned/memorized in a month) just wasn't secure enough. So, that was quite the disappointment. There's always next year.
I'm just looking forward to the end of the semester, not only for summer and 2 months of just playing piano, but there will be no more Theory or Theory Lab and no more Organ. Seriously, not having to sign up for those 3 classes is enough to get me through the semester.
I really just wish I had time. Or to be 21 and drown in my despair with a margarita. So, I'm sorry for being super lax and like not talking to anyone this whole semester. One day I will call/text you all and see how life is going for you. Until then, I will be hiding away in my practice room with some Chopin and a metronome.
This too shall pass...