four weeks till Spring Break!

Ahhh, I can't believe tomorrow begins my fifth week of school this semester! And yes, I know you guys don't want this to solely be about my classes or anything, so I'm going to try and cover everything! Ok, first, yeah classes...I'm still in a bunch, but I generally like them for the most part. My favorites are definitely my French Civ and Culture class and my Honors Global Symposium (pretty much just international studies type stuff). I was telling Bailey the other day that if I wasn't majoring in music I would definitely just major in international studies. We've covered Pakistan and Iran, and now we're moving onto Saudi Arabia. If I could double with music and international studies, I definitely would, but uhh, I think my French major is enough to try and get :) haha, and I do love both my majors, I just kinda wish it was easy to triple major...So yes, my classes are pretty much going well, and harp is crazy like always, and I get to play in the opera this semester! I'm excited because I've never done an opera before, and I'm really hoping it will be fun and not too hard. I'm also sill excited just to go on our little wind ensemble tour to Illinois, haha, mostly because I think it will just be fun and I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend with Megan (other harpist that will be with me) and the band. I know I've talked about Megan before, but she's honestly awesome and well, she uhh definitely kept me entertained in studio (kinda like an hour harp class/masterclass every Monday i have to go to) last Monday when she showed up completely drunk and we all tried to hide it from Mrs. Richter. I mean, honestly, she had had a rough morning and I mean, she's 25, so it's legal (just maybe not allowed during studio), but it she was about to fall off her chair when someone else was playing, and she attempted to play a piece, but, well, never quite got past the first few lines....i could not stop laughing the entire hour, and we never figured out if Mrs. Richter really knew what was going on...haha, so that's what's going on with harp and class, so let's see, what else...

Well, I was telling Lizz the other day that i've been trying to figure out what i'm doing this summer. I think i'm applying to three different summer institute things: Hot Springs Festival (2 weeks

INTERRUPTION: oh my gosh, did the Colts just lose the Super Bowl? Oh my gosh, will we survive? will the people in my dorm need intense therapy?

Sorry, but it's kindof hard to ignore the status of the super bowl right now going to a college a little over an hour away from indy. but anyways! yes, summer institutes: Hot Springs Festival (2 weeks in Arkansas), Brevard (6-7 weeks in NC), and EMF (5-6 weeks or something in NC too I believe?) So I've been working on applications and recordings for all of those, and other than that I'll just possibly have a competition in late June/early July, and i also hope to get to Connecticut sometime. Yes, umm, job? it really depends on when i'm home and for how long, and if i am home for a decent period of time, i'll probably take some TNCC courses as well.

Other than that stuff, I've still been applying for scholarships and competitions etc. with all that fun stuff....and also have been forced to determine my more life-long goals in one of my classes (yes, sorry, I went back to talking about class...). This one is just a once a week night class, and it's for students that receiving certain scholarships from Ball State. It's essentially a class to help us finds major scholarships for grad school and study abroads etc. and it's definitely exactly what i need right now. i've been thinking about grad school cause i'm definitely going, and well, actually before i get to my grad school plans, i will reveal my current far-fetched plans for my undergrad....

ok, first of all, i can only spend four years at Ball State (cause my scholarhips), but between one of those years i want to study in France for a year as an English teaching assistant (the French department here has a scholarship for it), i'd just have to figure out harp stuff, and then i'd come back, finish my undergrad and possibly still try for a Fulbright to study harp in France or some French-speaking place i suppose? Then, for grad school, I currently am considering going abroad, Canada, or the West Coast, though it'll probably largely depend on what type of scholarship i get if it's one for a US grad school or something abroad...(though watch me just end up at an East Coast school or something) and then, after grad school, well, at first, i honestly wanted join the Peace Corps (Chrissy, was it you that mentioned that as well??), but i really don't think it would be practical to spend 16 years studying harp and then, you know, taking a 2 year break (which i think is pretty much the shortest the Peace Corps likes you to do...), so that is kindof unlikely to happen unless i can figure out a way to make it work, but if i don't, i might do something with Americorps to help pay off my loans or something comparable. After finishing with school/my lovely life adventures etc. then my job...well, right now, i think being a full-time harp professor would be awesome, though i kindof want a program like that in Williamsburg, and if Williams and Mary had a better music school, i would totally try to get a position there and combine with the youth harp ensemble to create my own giant studio, hehe, but that's probably not going to happen...but i really don't think i'd mind being a college professor and/or taking over the williamsburg harp program (though i'd obviously have to do something along with that), and THEN with whatever type of harp ensemble i have, i would like to take them on tours and go to cool places etc. (hehe, yes, i would like to take them to France and New York and crazy places to perform). And on top of that, i've kindof always fantasized about having some sort of giant benefit thing, you know where the tickets are crazy expensive to get into? Well, it'd be some semi-annual big fancy harp concert/dinner or something and we'd get donations to go towards something...(as cliche as it sounds, in my mind it goes towards an arts program in Africa at a school that the VA Lutheran Synod is building that i want to somehow be a part of if not personally involved in one day)...haha, and that is currently the extent of all my really far-fetched and not very attainable goals.....they will probably change lots and i'll be curious to see what i actually do end up doing with my life, cause there's a decent chance it won't be similar to this at all...

oh gosh, sorry i just made you read about all my life fantasies, so i'll try to think of different things to write about...well, first of all, was last week a rough week for anyone else?? i felt like it was a rough week for me and most of my good friends here. well, first of, it began with Megan drunk in studio, and then i swear maybe 3 friends came into my room crying at different points, and i had an all-nighter because i'm challenged at writing papers...and well, that was last week.

This weekend has been much better..i went to iHop with friends around midnight this morning, and it's been a pretty chill weekend with lots of snow to play in like most of you guys have! ohh, and one thing that i can think of that i'm sure you'd guys would like to hear is that there is a verrry cute architecture student in my scholarship class...

JE VOUS ADORE!!!

-twinkxx

P.S. i will do the personality and rating things, but right now i have to shower...