It's Been Too Long

Well, I’ve finally procrastinated enough on my blog and it’s time to remedy that. That’s right: it’s time for a new update.

I now have a week left of school (actually four days. We get Memorial Day off).

Since my last blog post a lot has happened. We had our second Spring Concert in April with the band and despite only singing two songs and having half of my choir not show up, I was very pleased with my students that showed up and the sound that they made. We looked and sounded very nice and professional.

Mom, Dad, Anna, and Collin also made the trip down here and I had a great time taking them from place to place and showing them my southern life. They got to peak into my classroom and see how I teach. We enjoyed the debauchery of the French Quarter, the barbeques of Memphis, and the catfish of the Delta. They still talk about the trip so chances are they had a great time.

I played host about two weeks later when Jilian came down and again it was a great time. She helped me get ready for a few classes, put her Veganism on hold for awhile, and just had a great time.

So: playing host, having fun, and learning to be a teacher. I’ve figured out what my biggest weakness has been in the classroom: confidence. I need more confidence in my ability as a musician, because that is essentially what I am or what I need to present to my kids when I’m in front of them. When we’re in choir, I need to be a choir director and have absolute confidence in what I’m doing. Luckily, this summer I’m planning on attending a choir director’s training workshop in Minnesota to get the confidence I need to have a legitimate, high achieving choir. We already have a lot on our plates for next year: two concerts early in the first quarter, one which the governor will be attending (the re-opening of the Lakeport Plantation just south of Lake Village).

For the summer, my plans are to head up to Illinois with Kaleb and visit as many of my relatives up there as I can. It’s been about 6 years since I’ve seen most of them, so I’m excited to get a chance to do this. After that I’m going to be back down here teaching at a summer camp in Greenville for two weeks, and then I’m hopping on the train to collect my thoughts and do some planning as I travel back to Washington.

Not a very deep blog post. There are lots of things I still need to figure out and put more thoughts into: especially next year and what my vision for my choir will be. Even after a year I’m still looking for that middle ground between “firm” and “not firm enough.” We’ll see if I can do it.

Cheers

-Nate

“Maybe I’ll be there to shake your hand
Maybe I’ll be there to share the land
That they’ll be giving away
When we all live together.”- The Guess Who

<-----------Spring Concert, 2007