The first two weeks of September and a bit of August.

It feels a little weird not having to go back to school during the first week of September. I just completed 18 years of school, and it is still pretty hard to believe. I have been up to some things but I am still currently planning how to go about the year before I apply to teacher’s college again.

August

After leaving the Northwestern Percussion Symposium, my mind was refreshed and ready to go for the year. I wanted to work on my playing more than anything after the symposium. It changed my life and the way I think about percussion and my approach to playing. There was just so much valuable information from some of the best players in the world and I get goosebumps just talking about my time there. I brought an 80 page notebook and I have filled every single page. I now have an irreplaceable treasure in my hands.

Performing Time for Marimba by Minoru Miki for Ms. She-e Wu!

I was invited back to take pictures for orientation week and made a couple of short recap videos for each day. It was my first time doing something like that but I had so much fun. Part of me has always been interested in photography and videography, so to bring out my camera for an entire week was a very nice break from work. Not only was I invited back to take pictures, but I was also invited to perform. Therefore, I decided to play a piece that I love and am most familiar with. Eric Sammut’s Rotation II. Why..? If you do not know me, I have performed this piece many times but never to an audience. I’ve recorded this piece twice, played it for my jury, for the percussion studio, and in class. To put it simply, I was never satisfied with the way I played it. So I brought this piece to the stage and I think I played the heck out of it despite my accuracy mistakes. I can’t wait to show everyone when it is available! With this performance, I am finally satisfied with the way I played it and I feel more confident in my abilities than before. To get here, it took a ton of mental practice but I am starting to finally see results in the mental side of things. That is another post for later when I have reflected on my ways.

Photo taken by my friend Dane!

September

As I’ve stated in the beginning, I am out of school. I have been going to work more often and honestly, these first two weeks have been the most exhausting weeks of my life. Working full-time at a retail job takes a lot of effort and I am afraid that if I am feeling exhausted now, then I will definitely be burnt out by 2026… However, I am lucky to have gotten into the TSYO again. I hope that it will be my escape back to music after working long hours for 5 days a week. Next week I will be teaching percussion at a camp and I have received other teaching gigs. Hopefully it will be good enough for my application this time around!
Thanks for reading!

EA