Learning to adapt

I got to have a new experience today. I was "borrowed partner" at another store in my district, which means doing the very same things I do at my store, but it wasn't quite the same. Suddenly nothing was where I was used to it being, and the people around me had a system that I didn't quite fit into. By the end of my seven hours there, however, I started to get into a groove, and began to see the little tasks that I could do that others weren't doing. All in all, it was a really fun experience, and I enjoyed getting to meet new people who do the same thing I do, just a little differently.

Adapting seems to be the theme of this year for me. Suddenly the people I got so used to having around me are off, living their lives (especially those who have graduated), and those of us who are now seniors are also living our lives, working jobs, getting married, and prepping for the next steps in life. Not entirely to be expected, James and I decided to take a definite next step for the future, and decided that being together wasn't best for either of us. It was rather sudden, but not entirely unexpected.

I've definitely struggled to transition into this new part of my life, and have been amazingly blessed with all the love and support that my friends have given me. As much as it hurts, both James and I have agreed that we've started to grow and develop ourselves, and are learning to enjoy the time we have now.

Meanwhile, I've been on the fast track getting my recordings and paperwork ready for my grad school applications. I can say that my application and materials are officially ready for Eastman School of Music (my first choice school), and I've already begun my applications for two other schools. I had quite the celebration for the end of recording my solos yesterday, as suddenly it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders. I'm really proud of the recordings and materials I came up with for my application, and I'm very hopeful that I'll get to do a live audition in February.

I'm more aware now than ever that I have no idea what the future will hold for me. I know where I want to go, and the goals I have in mind. I'm also realizing that being flexible and ready for anything is going to be just as important as having a plan set for myself. At least no one can say that my life is boring, least of all me. I'm excited for seeing what the future holds, though I hope not all of it is full of hard lessons in being flexible. Live and learn!

Senior Year: Week Three

I'm sure everyone remembers the last post, in which I stated how much was going on in my life, and how overwhelming it was. (If you don't, stop reading, scroll down to the next entry, then come back when you're done!) Well, it was overwhelming. And now I'm sick. Not horribly sick. Not the throwing up, can't move out of bed, only getting up to pee and take more medication kind of sick. Rather, I have a super stuffed nose that occasionally feels the need to drain and give me a sore throat, and a ton of sinus pressure that threatens to make my head explode from underneath my eyes. 

I started getting sick on Thursday, which most people would look at and say, "Well, at least you had the weekend coming up!" Haha. I work Friday through Monday opening at Starbucks (there goes sleep), and I had to record my excerpts for my prescreening for Eastman on Saturday, and go out and do headshots with Curtis on Sunday. The symptoms definitely come and go throughout the day, depending on what I'm doing and what time of day it is. It makes it hard to predict how I'll feel at any given time, because one day at work I had to drink honeyed tea just to be able to talk through my sore throat, and the next day at the same time I was sneezing every minute, but my throat was fine. 

One of my professors sat me down today to talk to me about my work load, and how I've been taking the world on my shoulders. He basically ordered me to find an assistant (and someone to come in and replace me in the library after I graduate). He's right, as much as I hate to admit it. If I'm not willing to give anything up, then I need to get help doing what I can't do by myself. 

As for this past weekend, both major events went pretty well, in my opinion. I feel good about how I sounded in my recordings (especially after finding a recording of a pitiful attempt at Mozart 4 I did my senior year of high school and comparing it to my best recording from Saturday. What a difference four years of hard work can make!) and what little I saw on the screen of Curtis' camera makes me feel good about how I looked (and how good his photography skills are! Seriously, you should all go check out his work. Curtis Chapman Simpson IV). I look forward to the (hopefully) easier next round of recording solos with my accompanist, and getting to see the fabulous edited pictures. 

This next week looks to be full of preparing for the solo recordings, and finishing up everything in my application for Eastman (and beginning the others!). I have an appointment on Thursday with one of the ladies in the Center for Career and Calling at SPU to help me with this strange case of writers' block I'm having with my personal statement for ESM. I hope she'll be able to look at what I have so far and help me expand it to be what they're looking for. 

It's a big week ahead, with lots to do, so I hope all of you who are awesome enough to read this every time I post would think positively for me, both that I'm successful in all these crazy adventures and that my illness will go away. 

Thank you for always reading and sharing this journey with me!

Allison