Wednesday, 02 May 2007

"i thank you God for most this amazing day"

I was reading an article on MSNBC.com earlier that said that for people on diets, counting Calories is more important than counting carbohydrates. What a scientific breakthrough...

Exam week is a good time, although it can be really stressful. In my experience, I've consistently had one of two things happen: either I get the exams spread through the week and they're all in the morning (yeach!) or they all get crammed into one or two days (AAAAHHHH!!!!). This time around, it was option number 2.

The concept map for Secondary Block helped me set a new record for staying up late working or studying. The previous record was 3:30 A.M., held by Elementary Music Methods for all the reading I put off (oops). This time, I was up until 5:00 making a giant poster of an orchestra with a bunch of lines in the name of literacy. I had considered just forgoing sleep but then decided that despite the "wisdom" on the RA bulletin board on the first floor, four hours would be better than none in my case. I woke up and frantically looked for the poster to see if it still made sense. I have now learned that I can have coherent thoughts at the wee hours of the morning, but it takes the aid of a near-nervous breakdown, a couple frantic prayers for God to help me and give me some inspiration, and a healthy dose of chocolate from the parents to keep me awake.

After waking up and taking a nice HOT shower, I piloted a new lab for Dr. Krupczak's Science & Tech curriculum. We examined the processor in a computer by its component parts and learned how it works through adding binary numbers, or basically running programs. It was also satisfying to finally hand in the two research papers that I hadn't finished (oops). Luckily, Dr. Krupczak is the most laid-back professor I've ever had, and I needed that in a crazy semester like this one.

2:00 meant I finally set myself free of the concept map and Secondary Block. It was a really good class and I liked my classmates and Dr. Mezeske too, but it was a LOT of work. I'm looking forward to a more relaxed approach, if what Ben said about Secondary Principles is right.

6:30 rolled around, and Dr. Richmond called us in for the exam for Advanced Choral Conducting. Knowing my track record for the class, I knew if I wanted to get a grade that I WANTED, I needed to nail the final. Happily... I did just that. Everyone did a good job at the podium and Dr. Richmond even said to us, "Excellent work, everyone! You all really looked like conductors up there!" I think what excited me more was the feedback from my colleagues, though. Kara and Maggie both said they thought I looked like I was enjoying myself as I was conducting and that I managed to keep from getting shaky. I think that went to prove that knowing the score is my biggest asset when conducting and that I'm convincing when I'm truly the "happy conductor" inviting the musicians to sing and play with my facial expressions along with my hands.

Needless to say, I went off to the iHOP run with the Bible Studs in a wonderful mood and the late-night breakfast was delicious to say the least. The kind of fun and laughs that we shared have me REALLY excited about living with these guys next year in the apartment.

Eric Whitacre wrote a choral piece based on a text from e.e. cummings called "i thank you God for most this amazing day." That fits Tuesday of exam week. It could have been rough, but it was amazing.

Currently Listening Shepherd Moons By Enya How Can I Keep from Singing?