First, I had to finish up the rest of my classwork for the semester, which involved an oral final exam for my Russian class, a written final, also in Russian, a presentation on my final project for my careers class, and write two papers for that same careers class. SO MUCH WORK!
I also had to register for spring semester classes before I could leave for break. I knew I wanted to take a class in arranging, since I really enjoy making arrangements of classical music for different groups of instruments, and I've also heard the teacher of that course is amazing. But I couldn't decide on what other class I wanted to take! After perusing the course offerings of nearly every department in the entire university, I narrowed it down to two classes: Contemporary Brazilian Poetry (a Portuguese language class), and Stars and Planets (an introductory level astronomy class that says that complex math skills are not required). I registered for both and I'm planning to do what Yale students call "shopping" once I come back in the spring. I'll attend the first week of classes for both courses and then drop whichever one seems less interesting. I'm conflicted because I really love Portuguese, but I'm worried about two things in that class: that it will be too easy language-wise (I completed a level 5 Portuguese class in Spring 2012, and this class is level 3), and that it may be more focused on analysis of the poetry rather than recitation or context. And of course with the astronomy class I'm worried that it will be really hard. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
Anyways, finally I finished all my work for the semester. I traveled home on Sunday morning, and spent the whole trip studying for the GRE. I'd completely forgotten that I had to take it on Monday! I had two books that I borrowed from friends. It's amazing how much math I had forgotten. In middle school I was a mathlete, and in high school I went to a magnet school for math! But I ended up leaving that school so I could have more time to practice. At my local high school, I ran out of math courses after my junior year, and haven't really thought about math since. So clearly I had to do a lot of studying! I took the exam on the Monday after I got back. It was such an intense experience! They made me leave everything in a locker and they wanded me down, like I was going through airport security. The test was 4 1/2 hours long, and I was only allowed a ten minute break halfway through. I was really worried about how I was going to do as I was in the act of taking it, because the test adjusts itself to how well you do. For example, if you do really badly on the first verbal section, the second verbal section will be much easier. My second sections of both verbal and math were easy, so I was understandably concerned. All my cramming for the exam paid off though; since I had to take it on the computer, I got to view my scores at the end (except for how I scored on my two essays). I got much higher scores than I had expected, and in fact they were within standard "goal" ranges for the GRE!
You might think that since I'm home for break now, and since I already finished taking the GRE, I can relax now. You would think wrong. The work has only just begun! As a gift for my students in Brazil (I work for a youth orchestra there during some of my school vacations), I promised them an arrangement of Tchaikovsky's Marche Slave last time I was there, which you can hear below. I'd already done most of the work arranging it for a quartet of French horns before I came home but there were some finishing touches needed before I could send it off to them as a surprise Christmas gift. It was so fun how excited they are to play it! It's a pretty hard arrangement, but I hope they can learn it in the next few months and play it for me next time I go back there!
I also still have a lot of work to do on the summer camp I'm starting, which is called the McLean Chamber Academy. Registration is now open! You can download the form on my website: http://mcleanchamber.wordpress.com/register/ But that also means that I have a lot more work to do. I have appointments at about fifteen middle and high schools in the DC area over the next few weeks to speak with their band students about my program. I also have to open a business bank account, which means that first I have to incorporate myself. So much paperwork... but it will all be worth it if the program comes to fruition! I think it will be a great opportunity for all the kids who might enroll. I just hope enough kids register to make the camp possible.
Until next time!
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