I've been wanting to write a bit about this past semester and it's finally gotten to a point where I can comfortably talk about it. A lot of this is based on my initial thought process and opinions at that time from beginning to the end.

Lesson of this semester... The Work Must Be Done!

So, continuing my education into Music Education and Jazz Studies at Southeastern really seemed interesting and fun. Beginning with the audition which to me felt, really relaxed. I wasn't overwhelmed or worried too much about it, but still had nerves firing off at 150mph. Compared to the audition process for UNO, slightly easier. But I chose Southeastern because they actually have a music education program and they focus on percussion as a whole and not just drum-set. My theory professor at my previous school told me that to be well rounded, more educated, and get more jobs, study percussion. So who am I to turn that down? Plus, I didn't have to drive across Lake Pontchartrain every day!

Downside, I'd have to do the full 4 years, basically start from scratch, and looking back on that it makes total sense. They care about the students and they don't want them to be half ass musicians or educators when they leave the program. Kudos for that!

Fast Forward to Week 2. The initial week is just getting your bearings and classes situated and whatever, parking sucks!

So once week 2 started I realized that this was NOT something I was used to. That being the amount of work required. For me, I've been in school far too long to have not graduated yet, but that's what I get for switching degree plans a few times. Music Business to Premed to Psychology back to Music. This was intense. But if you know me well, I'm a lazy genius. Meaning, smart enough to do the work, but I'm incredibly lazy to getting to it. Not conceited in the slightest, I just know myself. So this was like a good kick in the rear!! So now I'm going to talk about each section individual, in absolutely no particular order.

Math- I hated and loved the math-lab..but thank god that's over!

Music History II - My initial thoughts about this class was "oh yeah cool I love history. I'm going to learn about composers and different styles of music and so on... great" Holy sheets of musical analysis batman! You want me to find all the information for this one peice and do what? WOW. Can't wait for part 2 now that I know what I need to do! How I passed this class, is a miracle and it's still beyond me! But I really enjoyed the way this class was taught, I loved the presentation.

Applied Percussion - I need to practice WAY more than I did this semester. I may have gotten away with a few hours of practice a week, but that just wont cut it. I know I could have done way better. Overall, I loved the approach, I loved the attention to detail. My overall playing is improving and it's great!

Percussion Ensemble - Same as above. But man did epically fail at realizing the affect of taking the time to shed on the pieces during my off time. I had no idea how poor my reading was, so I'm working on this over the holidays. We got through this semester, but I don't want to just get through it, I want to conquer it, I want to own it.

Voice - I didn't tell my teacher I was in choir when I was younger! =) That made me work more for the grade and was able to sit back and relearn a lot of things I forgot. Which was great.

Acoustics of Music - Hmmm... as much as I wanted to and hoped this class would be awesome, it was absolutely dreadful. The presentation was in no way made to be relatable to music or comprehended by a musician. Only in certain aspects, but a scripted class, is deadly.

Percussion Studio - Educational and Fun! This is great! I hope we get to learn more about other strange percussive instruments.

Jazz Lab - This was great as well, but to honest, I felt kind of out of place, but maybe because of my experience, it was good for that experience to be used and shared with everyone else. Again, just my thoughts.

Recital Hour - Man, I had no idea the amount of talent this school has. I was blown away at every performance. From the vocalists to the instrumentalists. Every single one of them was high class and incredible. I can't wait to see what they do once they've finished here. I hope I can reach that level of talent and greatness. Just wow!

Looking back I realize now that what needs to be done within this university and program and to be successful in my own path, is a lot of self study, and really making an effort of devoted practice time.

At this point I could insert a few frustrating or other emotional words, but I will just say these three things:

I'm growing, I am learning, and I am becoming.