You will never be....

I had an epiphany today. Sometimes parents yell at their kids. Most of the time it's because they did something wrong and need to be admonished, but sometimes it's because they are afraid. There are those parents that are super smart, intelligent, and have lots of crazy experiences. Whenever they yell at their kids it's because they are afraid that their kids are going to be or are already better, smarter, and more intelligent then they are. Sometimes we kids or teenagers act all tough and mighty and like we are better than everyone else. That's usually a mistake, BUT, sometimes we are better. Some parents yell at their with sayings of you shouldn't have done that, why did you say that to them, and you're grounded. Here is what other parents say to their kids when they yell at them, "You will NEVER be smarter, better, more intelligent or even have more friends then I do." Well obviously, this is plain fear. Why else in the world would you tell your kid that??

So here is my thesis, parents yell at their kids either to protect them, or because they are afraid that they are going to go to more awesome heights then they did. Crazy right? Well what do YOU think??

Roommates say what?!?

                               (Emily McKibben, left, Me, right)

So my roommate, Emily McKibben, and I met on move-in day. We were kind of quiet and shy. We didn't really know what to say because we didn't know anything about each other yet. We quickly started going places with each other hanging out outside of our room. Now we are pretty much inseparable, well except for school breaks.

We now do almost everything together. Go to the movies, make midnight Brusters and Krispy Kreme runs. We go to parties and clubs. I stalk her at work to keep her sane because of this guy John who likes to visit her every Thursday. I almost always wait for her to get off of work before I go to dinner so she doesn't eat dinner by herself. Yes, I am that awesome of a roommate.

Thankfully, we were paired together perfectly because unlike a lot of people on our campus, we get along. We listen to the same music, watch the same t.v shows, and are even OCD about how neat and tidy our room is. I just want to say that she is a freaking awesome roommate and I love her. We will probably be rooming together for the rest of our college days.

The One Who Shares My Brain.

(Mary Fran, left Me, right)

This is me and my friend Mary Fran. We met our first month of college and clicked right away. Now we do everything together. Eat, class, crazy spontaneous movie nights. EVERYTHING. We even finish each others sentences sometimes. It's freaking amazing, especially when we've only known each other for 4 months. I wonder what we will be like in 4 years when we graduate from college together?!? I really hope that we stay crazy close and always finish each others sentences. 

We both listen to the same kind of music, anything but pure country, we LOVE 80's movies and wish that John Hughes had directed and produced our life. This is what we want, "John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. Jake from Sixteen Candles waiting outside the church for me. Judd Nelson thrusting his fist into the air because he knows he got me. Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason." That's our life right there, but I think that a lot of people want that and unfortunately only a few people got it. 

Mary Fran can make ice cream fly, and I can devour a dozen doughnuts in about 3 minutes. We make midnight Krispy Kreme runs all the time and go to Wal-Mart at 1am for ice cream....so she can make it fly! Thankfully there is a 24 Krispy Kreme and Wal-Mart 10 minutes down the road from our campus, otherwise I don't know what we would do with ourselves. There is also a Brusters 5 minutes down the road and they have some amazing ice cream, but they are only open until 11pm otherwise Mary Fran would be impressing the other customers with wonderful talents. 

Damn it MacGamut, We hate you!

MacGamut is a horrendous computer program made for musicians. It contains intervals, rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic dictation, scales, and chords. You have to be able to listen to these and tell the difference between intervals. On a computer program, this is HARD! Mostly because it is hard to portray the actual sound of an instrument or voice on the computer, but also because it's just hard. You have to identify triads and the different types of scales, Major, minor (melodic, harmonic, and natural). You get to do rhythmic dictation, which is when the program plays a specific rhythm and you the student are suppose to write it down on the lines provided. It's all very technical and time consuming. 

That's when it boils down to the teacher. You see some teachers want you to get past a certain number of levels for each specified category. There are 20 levels in each category total. Then you have the teachers that just want you to try your hardest and log time. Those are the most wonderful teachers EVER. When you get those teachers you can just watch Television all day and click stuff. As long as the mouse is moving and you are active, you log time. It may not benefit you to do this, however, when you're a college student you get to a point when you just don't care anymore. As I type this beautiful blog, I am doing exactly that, clicking away just to log time.

So for those of you who have to just log time, sit down and watch a movie or listen to music while you click at your mouse. Ready, set, GO!

It's the most.....stressful time of the year.

EXAMS!! They are a college students worst nightmare. You get 5 essay's to write and then you have to study for hour and hours and hours for these crazy exams.  :(   But when studying, one must never forget to take breaks or your head might just explode. Nobody wants or likes brain stuck in the carpet. Some wonderful ideas for taking a study break is to go to the movies with your friends. Always take advantage of the $2.50 nearby. Go to the mall, run around campus to relieve the stress, or even just take a nap. It's the simple things in life that make it worth living. There's no need to go crazy stressing over exams. I know they are hard and can sometimes seriously effect your grade, BUT if you study to much and don't take a break...your head WILL explode. The only people who like brains in the carpet are zombies.  :) So take a break and enjoy life for a little while so we don't have to check you into the mental institute for over studying.

Family, Turkey, and Pumpkin Pie

                                                      

The traditional family Thanksgiving. Most people have that one person in the family in charge of making dinner and everyone gets together at that persons house. Not in my family. My family is so big we have about 2 or 3 people who host Thanksgiving dinner all at different times on Thanksgiving Day. I have 3 sets of grandparents. Carmen and Rene, Cyndy and Buddy, and Barbara. Barbara usually hosts "dinner" at 11 or 12. Everyone from that side of the family will get together and they all bring a dish. All of the younger siblings, including myself because I'm the cool cousin, run around the house wrestling, playing hide and seek, and bickering. At Carmen and Rene's house we eat dinner at 4 or 5 which is when people usually eat Thanksgiving dinner. It's usually just me, mom, and my sister, and my grandparents. Sometimes my great aunt and uncle show up, but that's on rare occasions. Then we go to Cyndy and Buddy's house. That's when we crack open the desert and the real fun begins. We usually play family feud and go crazy with yelling across the house. It's quite fun, but sometimes it's a little to much to handle. After all the wonderful food and crazy family fun, we all go home and....SLEEP!! Eating is a lot of hard work.  :)

My Symphony and Everything in Between

The Prelude.

My senior year of high school I was very laid back and never really did anything except volunteer and go to school. It was very boring. I went to school in my pajamas almost everyday and didn't even care. That's right, I didn't care. There was no need to dress up because I slept in half of my classes and changed for dance class.

Movement I: Summer.

Over the summer I started to do more and more things. I started going out with friends more often and stayed out later, but of course with my mom's permission.  :)

Movement II: Move-In Day.

On move-in day I was a little shy, but I think everyone was. It was very chaotic because I didn't know what was going on or who I was suppose to see for this or that. I was afraid that my roommate and I would hate each other and drive one another crazy.

Movement III: New Friends.

My roommate and I get along great and plan on rooming together for the next 4 years. During my first few weeks I was afraid that I wouldn't make any friends, but I've made plenty of crazy people just like me. A few to name, Emily McKibben (my roommate), Mary Fran, Madeline, and Caitlin.

Movement IV: The Journey.

Being at Converse has changed me a lot even though I've only been here for a few months. I've gone out and explored the world as an adult. I've stayed up until all hours of the night doing homework and projects. I've made midnight Krispy Kreme and Wal-Mart runs and a few other unmentionable things. I've done things that I would never do at home and it has all been, so far, a wonderful experience.

The Finale.

For the next 4 years of my life at Converse I plan to study Music Education and eventually become a high school orchestra director. I hope to explore the world a little more and learn lots of new things and have even more wonderful experiences. I hope to make more friends and impact students lives one day like many of my teachers have impacted me.

New Traditions

One of my favorite traditions at Converse is 1889 week. We all get to compete against our fellow sisters for the glory of winning spirit week and the 1889 cup. If I were to create a new tradition it would be a play off of 1889 week. I would get all of us beautiful women to dress up as if we were form the 1880's. We could even count it towards points just like we do for Purple Friday. It would really be in the spirit of the week and I think it would even bring us closer as a community since we would be able to see how they dressed and even lived back when the school was originally started. I don't know what else to say other than I think this is a really cool idea, obviously or I wouldn't have posted this.   :)

Music: The Stress or The Reliever?!?

Being a music major can sometimes become very stressful. We have to take so many classes that pertain to music it can sometimes drive us a little crazy. However, we must not forget to stop and remember why we started playing our instrument or or started singing. We do it because we love it and other musicians in our favorite bands inspired us to start. Here are some examples of my current favorite songs by some of my favorite artists.

Here is the song All the Right Moves by a group called One Republic. I love this song, mostly because I think the music video is awesome, but the lyrics are kind of relieving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrOeGCJdZe4&ob=av2e

Another song I love is called If I had you by Adam Lambert. It's more of a party song and I find it rather uplifting when I 'm stressed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmXQFwlD7vk&ob=av2e

One of my all time favorite songs is called Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars. It's wonderful and every girl in the world should be told this at some point in her life. I makes me happy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk

 Another two of my favorite songs are from Phantom of the Opera.  Basically almost every song from Phantom of the Opera I love, but these two are my favorite. They make my soul sing!!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwKTWG7GiDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBYoarsGLXc

We must never forget that just because sometimes the music looks hard and can frustrate us doesn't mean we have to give up and let the stress win. If you feel like giving up, just listen to your favorite song.

A water for you, a vodka tonic for me!!!

Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18?  I think so, and not because that would mean I would be able to drink. 

Most teenagers drink because they're not supposed to. It's like when your parents' tell you not to eat the cookies. You want to eat the cookies just because they told you not to. If the drinking age were lowered to 18 teenagers wouldn't have the urge to drink because it would be legal. It's just not as fun when you're allowed to do it. There's no excitement or adrenaline.

Another reason the drinking age should be lowered, is that if you can serve in the military and die for your country at the age 18, then why shouldn't we be able to drink at the age of 18? It just doesn't make any sense. Why should one be able to die for their country, but not be able to have an alcoholic drink?

Another point to make is that one can buy cigarettes and get a tattoo at the age of 18, so why shouldn't one be allowed to drink. If we're allowed to kill our selves with cigarettes, why shouldn't on e be able to drink?

There are so many different reasons as to why the drinking age should be lowered and as to why it shouldn't be lowered. What's your point of view?

Futurizing the Flock

In two years when I'm part of the Big Sister Class, I think that I'd say a few things about organization and stress. Those are very important especially your first year.

If you don’t get organized as a freshman, it’s very difficult to get organized later on as an upper classman. A few things you can do to help get organized are to make a schedule with your classes, practice time, lesson time, eating, homework, and study time. Then keep a planner so that you can add extra last minute things such as recitals, hanging with friends, and visiting family. I had to do this as a freshman and it really helped me because I could see everything at one time and I always knew what I was doing. Making both of these will really keep you from being stressed. Being stressed is hard. If you have this planner or schedule, then you don’t freak out about your homework not being done or not being able to practice enough because all you have to do is what you schedule says and stick to it!

One thing you want to make sure you DON’T do is over practice. Over practicing can sometimes cause problems. (HEHE) You might practice so much that you forget how the music goes!! (Yes it is possible) You might hurt yourself physically, for example getting tendonitis, carpotunnel, sometimes even shoulder or back pain. If you EVER have pain, tell someone right away. Don’t just let it fest because it can only get worse. Trust me, I know!!

Time Management!!! Tick Tock!!!

Topic: Blog about your biggest time management challenge-is it oversleeping, spending too much time on social media such as Facebook, juggling work and family responsibilities, or something else?


My BIGGEST Time Management problem is that I like to par-take in lots of activities such as orchestra, Key Club, Dance, Fencing, etc. I like to be a part of the community but always seem to undertake to much and then not know how to organize it. Sometimes I make spread sheets to help organize my life, like my classes and my club activities, but then I will spontaneously decide to do something else such as go to the movies or hang out with friends. 


Another one of my big problems is FACEBOOK!!!!   I think I'm addicted...and that can sometimes cause problems.  :D    For example as I'm typing this blog I'm on Facebook trying to figure out who my Big sister is, talking to my cousin, and I'm being distracted by the frogs I just bought. (They're so cute!!)


Then I end up having a huge pile of homework and no time to get it done. Sometimes I even fall asleep doing homework because I'm too exhausted from all of the other activities. One would think that by now I would have this down to an art, but I don't. Even though it's gotten a lot better I still overwhelm myself in activities and fall asleep doing homework.  HELP ME!!!!!   

SSS Assignment #1

 Topic:

Please expound on these four questions:

1. Why did you decide to come to college? (After all, it's not exactly free...)

2. Why did you decide specifically to come to Converse? (Again with the "not free"...)

3. Why did you decide to study music in college at Converse? (I'm sensing a theme here...)

4. If you had to give up either cereal or sandwiches for the rest of your life, which would it be?

ANSWERS!!!

1. I came to college because I like to learn and if I want to be a music teacher, which I do, I need a college degree! Also I’d like get paid a decent amount of money when I become a teacher. I like money, but I think most people do too.  :)

2. When I came to Converse as a prospective, it felt like home and somewhere I could imagine myself spending time and studying. I met some really cool people and lots of people who shared the same interests and ideals as I do. Everyone was nice and extremely friendly which was completely un expected. That basically made my decision for me.

3. I love music. It makes me happy and speaks to my soul. That's all.  :)

4. I would have to say the I'd rather give up sandwiches for the rest of my life and not cereal. I like cereal too much. Cereal is an every or any meal kind of food. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and because there are so many different kinds of cereal I might never get bored! My favorite kind of cereal is Cocoa Pebble, the generic Wal-Mart brand!!  ;)