It never ceases to amaze me how fall quarter always ends up being insane. When school starts up in September, my friends and I often look at each other and ponder how many classes we're taking, and how we took on a lot (probably too much) because we knew how refreshed we would be after nearly four months without classes. You'd think after four years, we would learn. Nope.
You see, fall quarter is very inappropriately named. It starts in the summer, and yes, leaves do fall for a majority of the ten weeks, but by about week four of the quarter, we're already playing Christmas music in band and orchestra. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music, and I always look forward to playing it; I just never notice fall coming, or going, because we pretty much go from summer to winter overnight.
This leads to the problem: when you load yourself up for this first quarter back after a long rest, you tend to forget that you're setting yourself up for two to three weeks of absolute hell. Those of you on semester systems with dead weeks? We look at you and wish we had that luxury. My last three weeks of this quarter will include (and have included, since we're on week 9) five concerts, three dress rehearsals (not on same day as concert), three weekends of work being disrupted, approximately 80 hours of work, one trip to Canada, two finals, two huge final papers, one musical presentation, and one Black Friday shift that begins at 3:30 AM (plus quite a few other opening shifts, though they pale in comparison to that one).
I may get to Christmas break and just pass out for a week.
I am glad that I get to see my family this week, and have a little spare time to keep working on graduate applications, and work lots of hours to afford said applications. Did you know that graduate applications for music average around $100 an app? Bleh. I am happy to report that two got submitted today, and one is almost ready to go!
I also have officially decided to purchase this horn that I've been play testing, as I really enjoy playing it, and love how it sounds (apparently it makes me sound better than I expected). Money, as always, is tight, but this is a big investment, and I'm willing to work my rear off to be able to afford it. It will also help when I can sell my old horn.
It's a big quarter, and I'm still a little overwhelmed with how much there is to do, but I'm glad to see my to-do list getting shorter every day!
~Allison
