Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as a Fiddler on the Roof!

"Sings" TRADITION!!!! TRADITION! “duh duh duh duh duh” TRADITION!!!!

 

 

That is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this week’s blog topic. I think Converse has some very unique and fun traditions, but the question is, if a new tradition was up for vote, what would it be?

 

 We all eat at Gee. (Well, MOST of us do) I will admit, I think Gee is actually pretty decent. But sometimes, I really want a certain food, and it doesn't show up on the menu until 2-3 weeks later.   So, why not have a tradition where US, THE STUDENTS, make and eat what we want. Naturally, my tradition would be called Students Run the Cafeteria Kitchen Weekend (I know, boring name). On the first weekend of the month, every month, two major groups sign up (example: biology and English)  to make lunch and dinner for that day. For instance, all the biology majors would make lunch and dinner for Saturday, and English majors would make lunch and dinner for Sunday. And it would rotate among all the majors, so each group would have a chance to make meals. By themselves. No cooks watching them and making sure they weren’t making an absolute mess. They have run of the kitchen and are free to bake or cook anything that they can think of. It can be as healthy or unhealthy as they want. It could be just desserts, just carrot sticks (that’s not a meal, that's a snack!) or a full blown 5 course meal, WHATEVER!  The cafeteria proviedes the ingredients and the students make the food themselves. The only rule would be that every single student has to help. There can't just be a group of 7 people making baked potatoes and one person making a quiche. It would be a team effort, as the old quote says “many hands make light work". But, they would have to clean up after themselves. No one would be allowed to leave until the kitchen was as clean as before they started cooking. Another good thing about my tradition would be that we give the hard-working chefs who work in the kitchen a nice little weekend off. How often do you think that those overworked chefs get a vacation? Not very often I think. I believe that there are many upsides to my made-up tradition. And this tradition is one that I would LOVE for Converse to have.

"So, what do you want to do with your life?"

What do I want to do with music? I could go on about this subject forever!

My dream career would definitely be being an opera coach at a opera company or university in Europe: Germany or Austria to be more specific. I would really go anywhere that would hire me, but Europe is my dream place to work. Well, it would be VERY NICE to be rich, but I know that that isn't very realistic. So I would like to be decent to well-off financially. It would be ideal to be married at that time so I don't have to be all alone in another country. (I think I would get quite lonely.) One advantage is that I would get to work in a awesome atmosphere with amazing singers and helping them progress in their own careers. Another one is I have always wanted to go to Europe, so working and living there would TOTALLY be a dream come true. Alas, there are disadvantages to this as well. I know that opera coaches often do not make a boatload of money. It is also hard to find jobs in this current economic situation, so I know it will be very hard to find a job. I know that I will not have a huge house, a super hot car, or a ton of expensive stuff; but I would be doing what I want to do, so I guess I won't mind too much. ( hehe)

Every year, Juilliard students come to my town to give master classes to local music and dance students. I participated in the dance masterclasses and have watched the voice masterclasses. Every year that I went, they brought this fantastic collaborative pianist with them. When I saw him work with the students and tell them correct pronunciations and different ways to better their pieces, I KNEW that was what I wanted to be. He was not a singer, but he knew most of the technique, could pronounce all the different languages, and on top of everything was an amazing pianist. Before that revelation, I knew that I was not made to be a concert pianist, or a opera star. An opera coach seemed like the perfect mix of both: I get to play the piano AND sing, so I don't have to give up either of the skills I have worked so hard on. I would much rather use my talent to help people be successful opera singers than to actually be one myself. Obviously, I am in college, to help me learn the things I need to in order to do the job I want. After I graduate, I will have to go to graduate school to get a Masters degree. Because opera coaches are basically accompanists, I will have to look for a school that has a collaborative piano or accompanying degree. If there was an accompanying degree at Converse, I would be all over it. I will have to continue with voice, of course. One doesn't have to be a singer to be an opera coach, as I mentioned earlier, but it does help a lot if you know technique. My current voice teacher is an opera coach, and one of the reasons she is so good (and one of the reasons that I wanted her as my teacher) is because she sang in Germany for years and has loads of experience. She also has degrees in both piano and voice, so basically she is what I want me to be someday. I know, its a huge dream, but I at least want the opera coach part to be right. The Europe/Germany bit is optional, but it would be nice. :)


THE RAINBOW CONNECTION!!!!!!  A couple years ago, my pointe dance was to a spoken Dr. Seuss story. We all wore colorful crazy costumes and huge fake eyelashes. It was the best!!! My teacher put in little music clips so we weren't just dancing to words, and an instrumental version of The Rainbow Connection was one of the songs she used. I got SO excited when I saw the video. See Natalie's blog for a picture;) I'm the one with the huge, glittery leaf tail.