Transferring!

Well for those of you who have not heard yet I am transferring. Hopefully to BYU provo.... if not there then BYU Idaho. I am sad to say goodbye to CWU's AMAZING music program, but I dont feel like it is the place for me. I am hoping to continue music education. If I get into provo, they have an Elementary Music Education program (which neither Idaho or CWU have) and I feel like that program would better prepare me for teaching in an Elementary school ---- obviously. So my application for both BYU's is oct. 1st! I will know about both by November 1st - hopefully. I am still working on a few things for the app but Im almost done. 

On a happier not, I got a job at Michaels for these next 4 months until I return to school. Funniest moment at work was when we were pretty busy at the registers and my manager got on the radio and asked if we could have help up front. (we have those radios that have an ear piece so the customers cant hear what is being said) and after a few calls with people ignoring her... one person finally responded saying "If you want me to I can go up front but Im currently in the bathroom" ---- I laughed pretty hard and I was ringing someone up so they must have been pretty confused lol :) 

Hope you are all doing well <3

Spring Happenings

Hello!!
Im sure you have heard by now that I CHOPPED my hair off a couple weeks ago.

 16 inches!!
Can you believe that!
So much hair :)








However, I am loving my new hair!
 Might sound crazy but i think that my
neck tension has improved!







Anyway. enough about that. This week has been eventful. Came down with a sore throat on monday - found out yesterday I have strep throat. Fun stuff. So I have been out of classes/practicing/rehearsals sense wednesday. I am feeling a million times better today, my throat now feels like a NORMAL sore throat... may not sound like a good thing, but compared to how it was, I am throwing myself a party over here! I am hoping to be back in classes on monday :)
In addition.... this week I got news that I will be a Resident Assistant (RA) in Wendell Hill Hall next year! This hall is located between my current dorm and the music building- you cant live closer to the music building! Also, they are the newest residence halls on campus (aside from the ones being built currently). So they are super nice. I will have my own bathroom! Any of you who have lived with a community bathroom can understand how exciting this thought is! And I will have my own double room - a room normally for two people, but I will have it to myself! If you couldnt tell, I am so excited for next year!


Cant wait for this quarter to wrap up so I can get moving into summer! Hope you are all doing fantastic!!


~Sarah~

One More Quarter to Go!

Hello!

So, quite a bit has happened these last few weeks! First of all, I got surprising news news over spring break that I would be an RA (resident adviser) next year! They have yet to tell me where I will be placed, crossing my fingers that I am in the same hall that I have been in this year so that I will get to work with freshmen music majors :) That would be my first option but really im just thrilled to have the job! This means that I will only have to pay for tuition next year, cutting my cost pretty much in half! wow! amazing. also, it will give me more experience working with people, and problem solving. Plus, listening to people complain about life was pretty much what I did contently in high school. So, excited to get back to helping people with their issues again!

Second, I have OFFICIALLY applied to the education program here at CWU! meaning that once I take the west-b and get finger printed I can officially be a music ed major! I turned in my application, recommendations, and transcripts today... pheww weight off my shoulders!

In addition, my last quarter of my first year is in motion! This quarter is competing for the most stressful one yet (im sure i have many more in front of me) with a full  load of  18 credits (the most you can take before you are overload) - Music theory, ear training, piano, band, lessons, asian studies, and world religions - im going to be one busy music major! To top it off, at the end of this quarter I have to jury up to the next level of flute lessons and pass the piano proficiency test (10 min. of playing scales, chords, transposing accompaniment, choir accompaniment, repertoire pieces and to make things fun = sight reading!!!) translation = DEATH
any who.... im doing well for now, two days of the quarter down... toooo many to go!


hope you are all doing well! :)


~Sarah~

Wow Im Really Bad at This

Ok well i guess im really bad at updating this thing! So here we go:

I have been good! Things are kinda crazy right now getting ready for finals and for my LAST QUARTER as a freshmen! With that said, finals for me this quarter are going to be quick! I am hoping to be done on tuesday, the first day of finals. It will be a BUSY and KILLER day but then i will be done. 

So im looking forward to that!

This last weekend I had the AMAZING opportunity to go to the WMEA (Washington Music Educators Accosiation)  conference in Yakima! It was so much fun and I am sad it went so fast. I left friday morning, starting with breakfast at Perkins in Ellensburg with Tri-M members from my old high school (tri-m is like wmea for high school students.) Then we headed to Yakima! The conference was absolutely amazing.
3 days of listening to inspiring speakers and phenomenal groups! Some of my favorite sessions were by Dr. Tim, I also loved the elementary sessions (who wouldnt, they are a BLAST!)

In Dr. Tim's session The Joy of Inspired Teaching (doesnt the name alone make you happy?!) he said "your students dont know they cant." Itsnt that so true, we all think we CANT, we cant tune, we cant get that fast passage, we cant play soft, we cant learn another instrument... the list is never ending. It makes me think of little kids and why it is important to start them learning young, elementary school or before. I recently wrote a paper about the importance of early music education, in it I talked about how a child will sing openly in a store or an unfamiliar place however, once the brain reaches adolescence insecurities take over and singing in public is no longer acceptable. Therefore if we let them indulge in activities such as singing or playing instruments in a group it will give them reassurance and help them build self confidence so they will be secure with their abilities when they get to adolescence. It is amazing because their little brains just dont know that they cant.... it is in adolescence that we decide we cant succeed, that we are not capable of achieving. 


Other quotes that I really enjoyed:

"If it comes down to either being right or kind, choose kind because you can 

always correct later but you cant undo negative feelings" 

"The more you know, the more you know you don't know"

(I just like this one cuz thats how I feel every day in my theory class)

"What would you do today if you knew you wouldn't fail?"

"What ever we want is what we give away" 

And the list goes on and on. 

Conference was good! I started playing around with the idea of opening a pre-school where you learn pre-school lessons through music. After my essay on early music education I really think that it is important to use music to learn, and to expose kids early. You know how you can remember the stupid number for Empire, I dont even remember what they sell, but i can sing you the jingle "800-588-2300 EMPIRE!" I cant even remember my social security number but i can sing you the empire phone number... its the melody! Amazing, I just find it all fascinating. 

I hope you are all doing well (the three of you that read this stuff :) lol) I hope life is treating you well! I am going to try to be better about posting because I find it enjoyable!

~Sarah~