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Finals Week and Graduation

There are only two more days until I graduate with my Associates degree! That, of course, means that I’m knee deep in the middle of finals week. So far so good—I’m done with two of my classes and I have three more finals to go. See you on the flip side after Thursday.

How to Know If You’re a Music Major

This is a guest post by Ira from Forging Onward. You can learn more about the author at the bottom of the post, or read Shawna’s original posts that started this series: How to Tell if Your Friend is an English Major (or Spends Too Much Time Around One) and If You Think Your Friend May Be An English Major.

You Know You’re a Music Major When:

1. Your skin starts to pale from too many hours in the practice room.
2. You get excited when you hear that the orchestra will be sitting in the correct formation for a Beethoven Symphony.
3. You hear the “Up” soundtrack and suddenly realize that the main theme is based on a Major 13 chord.
4. You get depressed because you completely forgot that yesterday was Palestrina’s birthday.
5. The only way to get that song out of your head is to go and listen to the whole piece.
6. You spend more than ten hours a week on a single-credit class.
7. You have to transcribe your ring tone when your phone rings in class.
8. Your closet is full of black clothing.
9. You sit around comparing your conducting batons and whether or not yours has the best balance-point.
10. You realize that the high violins in the background of that film scene totally just made you sad.
11. You stand in a grocery store and suddenly exclaim: “That was a third-relation progression!” And only then do you realize that no one around you actually cares.
12. You make sure that your bow has enough rosin but you forgot to shampoo your hair that morning.
13. You have more friends with perfect pitch than friends who can understand a basketball game.
14. A day at the recording studio is absolute Heaven.
15. You can imitate the voice of any pop singer just by listening to them once.

Photo Credit: jrossol – licensed under Creative Commons.

Speak in Public With Confidence

This post is part seven of a series on the ten habits you should develop as a college student. You can find links to the rest of the habits in the introduction.

I almost passed out the first time I auditioned for a solo in high school choir. My heart began to pound the moment our teacher had announced that auditions would be held on that day, and it gradually got worse and worse as others auditioned. I focused on my breathing and tried to ignore everything that was going on around me as my mouth and throat began to feel parched. I drank half of my bottle of water, but it was still as dry as before.

Finally, it was my turn. I stood up, trembling uncontrollably. I opened my mouth and began to sing. My voice sounded good, and singing was fairly easy, but the rush of adrenaline coursing through my body was overwhelming. I finished the solo as quickly as I could and sat down. My hands continued to shake for another hour and a half.

“Man,” I said to myself. “If that’s what happens when I sing in front of the class, what’s going to happen if I get the solo?”

I don’t remember if I got that particular solo or not. For a long time, standing up in front of anyone was the most terrifying thing in the world to me. My intense stage fright has lessened quite a bit since then, but I have only accomplished that by forcing myself to face my fear.

How to Conquer Your Stage Fright

Even though we are not all destined for public service or the performing arts, we will probably have to do some public speaking at some point in our lives. If that thought makes you sick to your stomach, then you probably need to work on developing the ability to speak in public with confidence. It’s not as difficult as you may think, and it can be very rewarding. Continue reading Speak in Public With Confidence…