YES, I'm finish grad. school before I go into the Peace Corps... people keep asking.
Coming to NAU has been a great opportunity. It's a uniquely designed master's program which provides lots of hands-on conducting experience. I am really excited to be conducting the NAU Men's Chorale this year, a combination of freshman vocal/music ed. majors, upper-class music majors, and non-majors.
I've been thinking a lot about the career of a choral conductor. At some level, a lot of being a success is marketing and selling yourself. It's all about what (and who) is in your bio, who you've worked with, which ensembles you've sung with... it gets overwhelmingly superficial sometimes. I think sometimes it becomes more about these superficial elements than about the music.
No word on my nomination yet... I'm patiently(?) waiting.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
P.S.
The title of this blog comes from a portion of Shakespeare's As You Like It which continually inspires me:
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
--As You Like It, II. i. 12
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
--As You Like It, II. i. 12
the beginning of a very long journey
Perhaps it's too early to create a Peace Corps blog. Time will tell.
I am currently in the process of trying to become a Peace Corps volunteer beginning summer 2011. I am currently a graduate student at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff) where I'm doing a degree in choral conducting.
Peace Corps progress:
Application submitted June 15, 2010
Peace Corps interview June 28, 2010
Many pieces of paperwork later, I am awaiting a nomination (a month, job, and continent assignment). From there I go through medical, dental and eye exams and then await a specific country assisgnment and exact date of departure.
I find myself constantly trying to wrap my mind around what Peace Corps service will be like. I've been reading a lot of other Peace Corps blogs and reading through the material from my recruiter, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around what day-to-day life would be like. I am hoping to teach English (secondary) somewhere in Africa. The African continent has long captured my imagination and interest, but after touring South Africa with the NAU Shrine of the Ages Choir in May 2010, I can't seem to shake the feeling that there's much more on the continent for me to do/explore. I have never in my life met such vibrant, alive, amazing people.... I have have also never seen such abject poverty.
So... I wait. I wait for a nomination and I continue to put myself in a mindset of giving and letting go of the day-to-day material things which currently occupy my space and time.
I am currently in the process of trying to become a Peace Corps volunteer beginning summer 2011. I am currently a graduate student at Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff) where I'm doing a degree in choral conducting.
Peace Corps progress:
Application submitted June 15, 2010
Peace Corps interview June 28, 2010
Many pieces of paperwork later, I am awaiting a nomination (a month, job, and continent assignment). From there I go through medical, dental and eye exams and then await a specific country assisgnment and exact date of departure.
I find myself constantly trying to wrap my mind around what Peace Corps service will be like. I've been reading a lot of other Peace Corps blogs and reading through the material from my recruiter, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around what day-to-day life would be like. I am hoping to teach English (secondary) somewhere in Africa. The African continent has long captured my imagination and interest, but after touring South Africa with the NAU Shrine of the Ages Choir in May 2010, I can't seem to shake the feeling that there's much more on the continent for me to do/explore. I have never in my life met such vibrant, alive, amazing people.... I have have also never seen such abject poverty.
So... I wait. I wait for a nomination and I continue to put myself in a mindset of giving and letting go of the day-to-day material things which currently occupy my space and time.
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