Hey friends and family-
Sorry if i have not been around to talk to you all. Like usual I have been very busy and stressed out up here at school. A lot has been going on, but all is well. Lack of sleep has entered my life once more and I am starting to feel like a walking zombie, oblivious to the world around me. there is just not enough time in the day to do everything i want to do. I have had a lot to say to people but just not enough time to say it. so i am going to write it all down here in my blog fair warning that this is going to be long.
I have given up Facebook for lent. So no Facebook until Easter. :) It has been a week and I am starting to get over the fact that I am having facebook withdrawals. Yes it is sad but true that I am a facebook addict. It is one form that I have been able to socialize with my friends because of my busy schedule. However, life with out facebook has been nice. I have found that I have a little more time to do my Homework well and that is about it... I am on myspcae too but that is not as fun as facebook in my opinion.
I have been working part time at the front desk at my dorm very early in the morning twice a week. Yes I get the wonderful 4-8am shift. But I do not mind because it is very quite at that time and I get to work on my homework after I finish my desk duties that take about 30 min. if even that to do.
But i have been doing some cool things at school. In my ED 475 class (Elementary music Methods) I have not only been learning how to teach elementary school kids but i actually get to teach them. That is right. I am teaching 1/2nd grade class at the Lab School for creative learning every Friday for 45min all by my self. At first I was extremely scared of teaching these kids because I did not know what to do. But last week was my 2nd time with them and it went so much better than the previous week. They kids were having fun and learning and this was quite enjoyable to be apart of.
Teaching is a lot of work. It is a lot of work to come up with your lesson plan, what you are going to teach, how you are going to do it, how you are going to handle kids who misbehave and reward the ones that are being good. Also the time it takes to come up with visual aids is a lot but I still think that it is fun. Like I said in one of my previous blogs how many people can say that they get to do arts and crafts at work, play and have fun while teaching future generations life skills and enjoyment.
I have been beginning to think that in life you have to pay attention to details to be successful at different tasks. For me a lot of times I ignore the details and look at things as a whole. So I have been trying to practice working on the details and I have been getting caught up in all the extra work and I have not had down time to have fun. Which i have become to realize that having down time to have fun is an important element in life.
besides teaching I have other classes that are interesting. I have Orchestration where I am learning how to take music and arrange it for other instrumentation. this is also time consuming i think, but quite enjoyable because I know that this skill will be quite handy in the future and I can start to arrange pieces for the different ensembles that I am in. I am in Conducting class, where I am learning how to conduct ensembles. Now I have a lot of respect for conductors. Conducting is quite challenging because like any art form you have to have proper technique to become efficient and knowledgeable about what you are doing. I think I am improving quite a bit on this subject but I still wish I had more time to practice at have independent left and right hand motions. you try this move your right hand up and down fast and with your left hand move it right to left slowly at the same time....it is hard huh?
I have a cello pedagogy class where I am learning how to teach the cello I think... we have just been reading a book called cello technique that talks in detail about how to play the cello. it is interesting book but very detailed. I think this week we get to start to learn about the Suzuki method of teaching (which is a method of teaching young kids how to play music when they are like 3 and up)- I was taught this method when I started to take private lessons in 9th grade up until 12th grade. And I am excited because i get to see my old cello teacher for the first time in 4 years this semester because she is an expert here in Colorado on how to teach this method. :) her name is Carol Tarr.
I am in my last core class ever!! I had to re-take humans and other animals (biology class) because I did not understand what we were doing last semester. It is going better this semester. I have a test this Friday. So I am aiming to get a B on that test.
That leaves me to talk about all of my ensembles. I am in 4 music ensembles plus cello lessons (solo music stuff)--yes that is a lot of music to learn. I am in steel band (we have a concert next week in Brighton by the way), Symphonic Orchestra (which I believe that I got demoted on my chair standings :( . I have been kind of bummed about that but it seems like people are not really saying much about this for some reason but I am no fool) I have not had orchestra since the opera in the beginning of Feb. I am on a break until March 20th so that has been nice because i have been able to practice for steel band and trio rehearsals at a decent time, I am in the best Trio ever (ACME trio-we are playing this cool/difficult piece by Beethoven that is really taking shape), and I am playing the Viola in concert orchestra. now this is a new experience for me to play viola but I am really enjoying it. I also get to conduct a piece in that ensemble. :)
I also have my private lessons stuff. I am getting ready for my Senior recital that I am going to have next Fall semester hopefully. I am learning a cello sonata by Bach, and i just got in my music for Bartock Romanian Dances. :) I will also get to learn how to play Elegie, Op.24- I am not sure who it is by but it is a really beautiful cello piece.
so that is all the stuff that I am faced with every day... It never ends...It is now the middle of the semester and that can only mean that mid-terms are coming up. I have 5 midterms this semester and I am not looking forward to any of them...
In my little free time that I have, I am eating lunch/dinner (if i am lucky), chipping away at my endless amount of HW, Practicing for something, doing HW while catching up with my roommate and that is about it...Do you see a pattern? I am lucky that my teacher canceled class this morning because I have been able to sit here are write about how stressed and unhappy I have been. Yes that is right I am unhappy because I have too much on my plate. but that is something that I am having to work out for my self. I am like a river who is slowly carving a way to be successful...
I have loved going home on the weekends because it has been my escape from all the stuff I have up here at school. I am happy and i feel stronger when i am with my family and when I come up here it is back to the same old thing week after week... but I am learning new and exciting things--I think i was more excited about school my first 2 years here. I remember going home and telling my family about all the cool things I have heard and saw and learned. but now I go home and I just sleep and focus on what is happening on in the moment. some times I will tell them what is going on in my day but not everything because I feel like i can not remember all that goes on because my brain is overworked and I just want to rest. I am hoping to find a way back to my old self and just be happy again and not have a care in the world to worry about.
So now you have gotten a glimpse at what I spend my time doing and why I am not around/very social lately. Sorry about that. I hope you are all having a better time than I am right now. If you want maybe you can join me in for a run or something fun...I need a break
~Manda Panda
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