In which Daniel realizes that counting is hard, and explains a day in the life of a Logger.<\/i><\/p>\n
I have often made the joke, whilst among peers commenting on the difficulty of my music major, that it can\u2019t be so hard considering the fact that I am not forced to count past four.\u00a0 Unbeknownst to me, however, seven was in fact my limit, as has been demonstrated by the way that I skipped over eight while numbering these posts.\u00a0 And so I thought to myself, whatever shall I do to fill in this little gap in my number posts?\u00a0 It then occurred to me that, at this time, plenty of anxious students have just accepted their offers to attend this school, and they alongside their parents may in fact be the ones reading this post.\u00a0 So, to assure that you\u2019ve made the right decision and that the school will not, in fact kill you, I will now present an average day in the life of a Logger \u2013 specifically, me.\u00a0 There is, of course, no typical day with respect to the fact that every day of the week is different, but a general overview would be something of this nature:<\/p>\n
1) Grab Snacks, Skip Breakfast \u2013 As irked as I am to say this, I have too fallen victim to the terrible college habit of going straight to class without eating breakfast.\u00a0 Some days \u2013 particularly my Wednesdays, wherein I have class straight from 10 AM to 5 PM \u2013 I will have no real meal until dinner, and thus will fill my backpack with all manner of goodies.\u00a0 Protein and carbohydrates are usually my priorities, so one can often find a combination of oats, strawberries, bread and cookies in my backpack, and a cup of green tea in my hand.\u00a0 New students, I highly encourage you to make time to eat your breakfast somewhere in your morning \u2013 you deserve it.<\/p>\n
2) All the Music \u2013 The morning and early afternoon are a sort of blurred rollercoaster of music classes, ranging from Music 231 (Historical Survey of the Classical Period to Late Romanticism) to Music 291 (Advanced Choral Conducting Rehearsal Techniques).\u00a0 The interesting thing about taking so many classes deeply involved in a single department is that one begins to see how interconnected they are.\u00a0 In particular, my choral conducting class connects on many levels to my other classes with respect to how those classes are taught.\u00a0 Analysis of form and harmonic structure are used both before conducting a new piece and when studying theoretical developments in Music 204 (Music Theory IV) ; rules of teaching sight-singing are applied in coachings by the conducting professor and by the professor teaching ear training in Music 202 (Aural Skills).\u00a0 I have Adelphians Concert Choir every day of the week, but depending on the day of the week, I may have a voice lesson with Dr. Michael Delos, or otherwise have a studio class wherein students practice the performances of personal repertoire in front of one another and give critique (as I did just yesterday in Vocal Performance Class, which you can watch here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LZNeDPXSUnU&feature=youtu.be<\/a>)<\/p>\n 3) Nibblies \u2013 Hopefully, a break in my schedule will allow me to sit down for a real meal in one of the school\u2019s three eating facilities: the SUB (Student Union Building), which is the school\u2019s cafeteria, Diversions, which is the student-run caf\u00e9 next door, or Oppenheimer, which is a student run caf\u00e9 in the middle of the science building courtyard.\u00a0 It is also made entirely of glass.\u00a0 It is very cool.\u00a0 My favorite meal that the cafeteria serves is definitely the breaded salmon with veggies and mac-n\u2019-cheese, closely followed by any of their scones, which are weirdly amazing.\u00a0 The white-chocolate-raspberry changed my life a little.\u00a0 My caf\u00e9 drink of choice would definitely have to be the Duke of Celtic Breakfast (a Celtic Breakfast teabag submerged in a vanilla steamer), closely followed by the Mango-Peach Italian soda.\u00a0 Yum.<\/p>\n 4) LoggerRezLyfe \u2013 What more adventure can I ask for than being the Director of Sustainability for the Residential Student Association?\u00a0 Whether it be debating the pros and cons of budget requests from the campus community during ResLife\u2019s General Council Meetings to planning Casino Night with the rest of the executive board, the party never ends (until a new executive board is elected in April).<\/p>\n 5) Fundatory Utimes \u2013 This refers to \u201cfun-mandatory- Underground Sound\u201d times, or \u201ctime in which the members of the a cappella ground Underground Sound are forced to have fun together\u201d.\u00a0 This entails our evening rehearsal on Sundays and Wednesdays, not to mention the endless hours of blood, sweat and tears from planning rehearsals with my co-director, Lisa Hawkins.\u00a0 The group convenes in a classroom of the music building and, after some general chatter, cat jokes and warm-ups, the fun begins.\u00a0 In many ways, I use Usound as my personal conducting lab, testing out all the tips and tricks that my conducting professor has taught the class over the year.\u00a0 This is not only invaluable for my probable future career as a choral director, but is also extremely enjoyable, probably because I can go on a power trip.\u00a0 It\u2019s fine; I just need to control everything.\u00a0 What?<\/p>\n 6) Nose to the Grindstone \u2013 There comes a point somewhere in the late evening when one realizes the ridiculous amount of homework there is left to be done.\u00a0 This is when the fact that Diversions is open until midnight becomes of crucial importance to my academic success, as I am strangely incapable of doing homework in my room, but I absolutely MUST be near a source of food to work continuously.\u00a0 I will sit in the piano lounge just outside the caf\u00e9 and will write\/compose\/weep profusely while slowly but steadily drinking my weight in any combination of delicious beverages.\u00a0 Sometimes, to spice things up while writing my homework for Counterpoint, I eat a cookie.<\/p>\n 7) Hit the Hay \u2013 At last, I arrive home to my beloved Rat Skin Thong (please consult my very first blog post if you are confused by this statement).\u00a0 I shower, I stare absentmindedly out the window, I eat my weight in cereal (preferably Special K with Chocolate or Dark Chocolate Cheerios), and postpone sleep by talking endlessly with my wonderful housemates.\u00a0 And what conversations we have!\u00a0 Food, boys, general panic about the future\u2026 well, I\u2019m sure that there are more things than that, although nothing comes to mind.\u00a0 I assemble my bag for the next day, lie in bed, and fall asleep thinking of my dog\u2019s large, fluffy head on my tummy.\u00a0 Then it starts all over\u2026<\/p>\n But let me emphasize this over everything: although I am exhausted, stressed, sometimes angry, sometimes sad, more than anything I am happy and I am learning \u2013 which is exactly what I\u2019m here to do.\u00a0 My major is, admittedly, harder than one might imagine, but I continually learn more fascinating and useful things about music, communication, leadership and all sorts of other buzzwords that I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve read in pamphlets.<\/p>\n But really, life here is good.\u00a0 If you\u2019re thinking of applying, do it, and if you are indeed coming, GET STOKED.\u00a0 Jump into everything you can reasonably handle with both feet, and commit to what you\u2019re passionate about.\u00a0 And learn to count from one to eight without mishap ensuing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In which Daniel realizes that counting is hard, and explains a day in the life of a Logger. I have often made the joke, whilst among peers commenting on the difficulty of my music major, that it can\u2019t be so … Continue reading