These are the voyages of the Davis Enterprise...

That last post was rough, though it was helpful to vent a bit, release a bit of negativity. I hate being negative, the problem is, it's too easy to do. Well, this week I get to go the other direction, reflecting on my time working at Davis Senior High, culminating with the Band trip to Canada this past weekend.

I've been doing a lot of writing on my senior musicology project and that has caused some serious reflection on the year and my work at DHS. I was recently interviewed by one of my students for the Davis Enterprise, and I wanted to throw that in here so it didn't get lost somewhere.

What was your favorite activity on the trip, and why?

Conducting for you guys, of course. I don't think I can convey how much fun it is to direct your bands

What was the best aspect of going on the trip with us, and why?

The trip itself, all the traveling, wandering with the different groups and playing at all the different venues.

What is it like conducting and working with the DHS bands?

Conducting and working with you guys has completely confirmed my desires to become a music educator. This entire year has been a blast and I think I'm spoiled for the rest of my career by working with you. Between the dedication and energy the students bring to the program and the complete support the community puts behind its music programs, I don't think I'm going to find this environment anywhere else. Though, that won't stop me from trying to replicate it wherever I go.

Which was your favorite performance venue to conduct on the trip?

My favorite venue was playing on the steps of the Parliament building in Victoria. The crowd we drew, the music we played and the prestige and history of the venue brought about a lot of excitement.

How did you get involved in working for the bands in the first place?

I was thinking about getting my credential in music after graduating and wanted to observe and intern in some of the music classes at the high school. When I asked Fred Lange if I could come in a few times a week, observe and help out, he told me if I could make it every day, he'd offer me a job. My job description is more a second pair of hands helping to keep the music classes running smoothly, but Fred's let me expand the position and take ownership in his program, basically turning it into a student teaching position. I've given lectures, arranged music, worked as a section coach and led rehearsals. My favorite part of the job, though, is that he lets me rehearse and conduct my own pieces in the concerts.

What do you want to do with your music instruction experience in the future?

I'm headed to CSUS next semester and starting my work on a teaching credential. If I'm lucky I hope to weasel my way into a masters program in conducting or education in a year or two.

On Elephants and Absolution

This whole blog thing is a hard mindset to get into. So, the idea is a web-log, an online diary or journal, but it's for public consumption. I read them across the internet and many are full of wondrous amounts of information, commenting on society or politics or even just daily life. Take for example this one, a blog about teaching written by a band director. Yeah, I go there a lot. There are others I just hit up to see how people think. Like this one, written by a friend of mine from college, (he graduated on time and is an officer in the military and in med school). Both of them, however, have some agenda. Brillo's a libertarian, and has really pointed views on everything, and an amazing sense of humor. The other fellow sits and works a circle of educators, networks and advertises himself and improves himself and his profession in doing so. I don't really have anything to offer.

I'm just sitting here and writing because it helps me get my thoughts together. I don't link this page anywhere, and I don't expect a soul to read this, but I'm sure it'll be stumbled upon, so I present it as if it were meant for a third party. Actually that's really helpful. Writing things down as to present it to a third party, and then coming back to read them later means I have to explain my thought process and leave it open for criticism even if only from myself. I need to recognize biases, be open to counter arguments, look up words to make sure I'm using them properly. I also have to watch how I'm presenting myself as this is will undoubtedly be traced back to my off-line life somehow. I can't say things I don't want to be heard, or bad mouth my students or contradict what I do between writing here.

 You know those people who say "I don't mean to be rude" to preface very rude things? Yeah, this is kinda like that, and I hate those people. I do have something something to write about:

[I've removed the rest of the post because I've decided to post this to a public forum. Time to clean up the blog]

To do: Become the Missouri State Cross-Country Llama Racing Champion

Goals are an interesting concept. I set them for myself without following through about 50% of the time. For the next week, it'll be something like: "I'm totally gonna sit down and practice for half an hour twice a day, on each instrument." And it just falls by the wayside because my schedule ends up filling up with last minute homework, or gaming, or anything else to decompress from school. I could blame it on a lot of things, but it comes down to the fact that I'm always too distracted by something shiny to keep up with what needs to be done.

So, I figure looking ahead to see where I want to be in a few years and what I'll need to do to get there might motivate me to start working.

Where do I see myself in three years? I'll be 27, almost 28 and I better be a god damned band director and out of school. I've discovered that I want to teach, but I've only made this discovery in my sixth year of college.  This means my degree is pretty much worthless on its own when I graduate. I've taken the exams I need to: CBEST, CSET for Earth and Planetary Science, but I still need a credential to get a job. Preferably a Master's degree in Music or Education on top of that, hence the three year deadline. I want to work with instrumental music over choral, and that means I need to take all the methods classes that weren't offered at UC Davis, as well as music pedagogy courses. This will leave me a bit behind on the credential track, but better to come in prepared than try and take all the courses at once.

Where do I see myself in a year? I plan to enroll as a full time graduate student at CSUS in the spring of next year, spending the fall semester catching up with undergraduate coursework. A year from now, I hope to have wrapped up my prep work for student teaching, leaving my third semester free to do just that, as well as find a way to weasel into a masters program in conducting. 

Three months from now, I'll be living it up in Sacramento. I need to find an apartment to split with my little brother. I'll also be needing a job. A new job, that part is what scares me, I'll probably be putting my college degree and class B license to use in a coffee shop somewhere in East Sac, as I refuse to work nights, and will need my afternoons free for courses.

6 weeks from now, I'll be a college graduate. That is, if I can make up for the terrible job I did on my midterm this morning. I need to take the rest of this quarter more seriously, as it's the last chance I have to finish my coursework before the university kicks me out for being over units. 6 weeks from now I better be hitting the high G on my trumpet... C, G, C, E, G. I want to be able to play the Cortez solo for my students before I leave, as well as be able to do the Bugle calls at the summer camp I teach rock climbing at. Oh yeah. Hm. also need to be climbing 5.10Bs in the gym again at least. The rock walls at Mt. Diablo owned me in a way that is just not acceptable.  Especially after watching some dude free climb it in front of us.

What do I need to do to get there, to any of these stages? I need to work my ass off.

-I need to take my classes more seriously, and get the hell out of here.

-I'm going to need lessons to master voice, trumpet, trombone, pick up my sax again, also      keyboard chord progressions to build up a base to work in some Jazz piano.

-I need to make it Pipeworks weekly, at minimum.

-I need to practice, at least one instrument each day.

-I need to listen to more music, build recognition of Jazz repertoire. 

I'm starting to see a trend here. My greatest weakness as a music teacher will end up being my lack of experience playing Jazz, and every high school has a jazz band. I'll need to be able to lead one. Best get to work.

Starting Over

I've started a Blog. 

I've been thinking for a while now that I've wanted to improve my writing, and the only way to do that is to write more. There's more to it than that though, I'm looking for a way to articulate what I'm thinking - mostly to myself. I need some sort of sieve for my thoughts, to define myself a bit and to get me headed down the write path towards exactly who I want to be. This isn't some sort of callback to the heyday of that whole 7th grade Livejournal business, nor is it an attempt to create an image of myself for people to see. Facebook does enough of that for anyone. What I'm looking for is a place where I can sit down and examine my life for what it is, and comment on it when need be...

...So, I started a blog. 

It's Sunday evening, it's May, and I live in California. Most of the time I take that for granted, so tonight I'm spending the evening in the garden. Well, not in the garden, next to the garden. In a chair, with my laptop. I'm a college student with a back yard. Often enough I forget that I'll be moving next year - most likely to an apartment - and the amenities that this place has to offer will no longer be available for me to take for granted. It's a big thing on my end, I've lived in the same place for four years and watched friends and room-mates rotate in and out as many of them graduate, but I'm still here.

I'm still here six years later. 6 years as an undergraduate, 5 years working for Unitrans, the student run bus company, 4 Picnic Days marched with the Band (uh!), 3 years spent straddling disparate departments for 2 majors that'll be squished together on 1 diploma. Six years, exactly one quarter of my life and longer than I've devoted to anything. Now, in a few months I'm going to graduate. I get to leave Davis and start over. I'll get one of those blank slates that you hear about from people who like cliches, and I don't know yet what I'm going to do with it. But I guess that's the reason I started this whole Blog thing... maybe if I write enough, I'll figure it out.