This blog is dedicated to all the changes going on in my life in 2012. From physical changes to spiritual and emotional ones, I'm growing as a person and wanted to share with you in this special experience.
It's my absolute favorite week of the year. I am pumped!!
Not only do I get to miss a few days of class (I need a break desperately!!) but I also get to travel to Dayton, Ohio, with 20 high school students, a director, and 27 parents. The children are competing in WGI World Championships. Below is an excellent video explaining what WGI is.
It's time to bring it.
Please pray for safe travels for myself and the rest of the staff and ensemble!
I wouldn't say I'm particularly a stereotypical girl, so in my mind I've always thought I was immune to such stereotypical judging, myself.
This weekend, my theory was blown to bits.
I was visiting my younger brother at his college down south. His fraternity had been awaiting my arrival for hours. He told me, "One's a Pakistani, but he's cool. Another is a retired Marine." Most others, I heard, were just the typical frat guys.
It wasn't until I met them that I realized I'd been stereotyping. We met Zain Hussain, and the name told me all I thought I needed to know. Terrorist.
Zain speaks better English than I do. He's perfectly polite, a personal trainer at the university gym, and SGA President. I mentally slapped myself in the face. He was the picture of an upstanding citizen.
The Marine followed closely behind. He was short, chubby, and a nerd. In my mind, I'd imagined Mr. "Tall Dark and Handsome" with cut muscles and a deep voice. Sigh... I was sadly mistaken with this one.
Soon, we went to the fraternity house to meet his other brothers. I'd expected roman columns outside, red brick, with huge greek letters sculpted above the entrance... what I got was a ranch style home from the 60s, with run-down interiors and hardly a trace of furniture. I met rednecks, geeks, that rich kid who only owns POLO, and those five guys who insist on drinking until they pass out. Overall, nothing like I'd expected.
I've been judging people based on who they're affiliated with, what they wear, look like, sound like, portray as a first impression. This is wrong. There's that overused phrase "Never judge a book by its cover" that keeps coming into my mind, and it seems fitting in this instance.
I was pleasantly surprised (and not-so-pleasantly surprised at other times) by these brothers. It reminded me that I need to step back and meet a person for who they are, without bringing in all my preconceived notions.
It was a subconscious thing I did, but now I'm consciously avoiding it. How about all of you? Are there any stereotypes that need to be broken down?
And by spring, I of course mean 'summer' because it's already hot.
I'm thankful we have sunny days, though, even the ones that get uncomfortably warm. Some people never get to experience that kind of warmth.
Last week was spring break, and I hope all of you had a nice vacation from school. I know I did!
My older brother and I drove to Pensacola Beach and stayed for a few days. We visited with friends and even went to one of my younger brothers' colleges.
He's in a fraternity-- Kappa Sigma. All the guys seemed nice enough, but it makes me glad I never joined any greek organizations. All they seem to care about is money and booze.
Beyond those few days of relaxation, I did a large chunk of homework and visited with my Japanese friend who came back into town for a week. She is awesome.
Anyway, for those of you interested, there are 39 days until graduation (not including today). Only 21 of those are school days!! Get excited. The semester is almost at its end.
We can do this. I am 'the little engine that could' and so are you!
Last weekend, I travelled with my high school percussion ensemble to Bowling Green, KY for the Winter Guard International Midsouth Regional Championships. It is two days of intensive rehearsing, performing, competing, and scoring.
My ensemble participated Saturday afternoon and again Sunday morning.
The kids played spectacularly well and I was a very proud instructor. Their prelims score was a 90.8 and their finals score was an 89.4.
Most schools at the competition averaged a score of 84, so my school was specifically thrilled.
Band and percussion directors usually compose or arrange music and drill for their students to perform, and in the past, we have been one of those ensembles.
This year, however, we were honored to have two very prolific and renowned percussionists write our show.
These two men are Dr. Iain Moyer and Colin McNutt.
Moyer is the arranger for the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. front ensemble, always giving them the upper hand in DCI, Drum Corps. International, or "summer band" as those familiar with it, have happily nicknamed. Moyer is also the percussion director here at the University of North Alabama. He's given our percussion sections an edge against the competition and brought percussion education to a new level here in Alabama.
McNutt is the arranger for the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps. battery, made up of the snare drums, bass drums, tenors, and cymbals. McNutt is known worldwide as one of the best percussion players, writers, and instructors in our time. He works at UMass as the percussion director and has turned their drumline into a powerhouse as well.
Both Moyer and McNutt collaborated to create a masterpiece in music, providing our high school students with every tool they could hope for, to succeed.
Both these men will be at our rehearsal today to give the students feedback on their performance, offer suggestions, tinker with their arrangements so as to make it flawless, and give the students peace of mind.
We are thrilled and honored to have these percussion legends at our school today. Hopefully I will be able to video some of the rehearsal and provide you with an inside look at what happens at such a rehearsal!
Hello all! I'm guessing most of you have started your second project for this class, which asks us to mesh many forms of writing together to form a multimodal feature, using Windows Movie Maker.
At first, I was stumped about what I should do. But eventually the ideas started floating and I think I've come up with something exciting.
I have a tip for those of you having problems with your music. I went through this problem where I wanted to use a piece from a soundtrack but it was too long, parts needed to be cut, and I had no software to help me!
Now, you may use any music from your iTunes or any other program, download it into Audacity and cut and paste as you please. It offers many techniques to get a seamless sound, although the only one I've really needed is the 'Fade In.'
It requires little knowledge of computers, which is good for those of us who are computer-illiterate (myself, honestly). It is free. Video how-to tutorials are available on YouTube, and they were very helpful to me.
It offers many opportunities that WMM doesn't offer on its own!
One thing to anticipate when trying to move music into Audacity is having the wrong file type. If your song in iTunes won't open correctly in Audacity, all you do is convert it to an AAC file. Then it should work without a hitch.
Good luck to all of you on your quest to make awesome projects!! Natalie
For those of you who don't know, I teach at a local high school.
I'm not a math or english teacher, I help with the music department.
A group of 20 students have taken over the school, the south, and perhaps the whole world... how, you may ask?
Percussion. :)
The director, David Waters, was my teacher from 6th grade until my high school graduation, and I started working for him shortly after that.
He has three techs working for him. The first is a technique person, who watches how each person plays their instrument. The second is a musical person, who listens without watching, making sure the melody is heard in each delicate phrase. The third is the overall tech, who watches, listens, and makes sure each person looks identical to the next. I am the third tech.
We've had astounding success since 2007, when the percussion ensemble began competing.
My senior year, 2008, was the first year we competed worldwide, at a competition called Winter Guard International. We competed in the Percussion Scholastic Concert Open class, and placed third overall.
We could not have been more thrilled!
With the recent success in our minds, the ensemble took full advantage of every resource available in 2009. By the end of the season, we had beaten our opponents by 5 points in the Championships. We received a gold medal in PSCO. Still, we wanted more.
2010 brought many changes, but particularly the jump from Open to World class, the most competitive, tough, and elite class in the world. We went into the competition with blind faith, biting our nails but believing in our students. A Bronze Medal isn't bad for our first year, right?
In our most recent 2011 season, we received a gold medal in PSCW.
We have high hopes for the 2012 competitive season.
What's the deal with women and men? Both complain about each other incessantly, and neither is willing to compromise.
Does that just make everyone stubborn? Or is there something else going on?
I grew up with four brothers and no sisters. Therefore, I speak 'guy.' Instead of using adjectives to describe things, males use noises a lot of the time. For example, "I was driving down the highway the other day, when BAM!!!!!! My engine just fell right out of my truck."
Women, on the other hand, take nine minutes to describe why they were driving along the highway, what they were wearing, what kind of hair day they were having, and what they had for lunch, before they ever get to telling the 'punch line,' as it were.
I don't understand men; the ones I've met are concnerned with who wins the National Championship game, which draft beer is on special, and who will get picked first in the NFL Draft.
I don't understand woman; they all say they hate drama, yet it seems to fuel their social lives in only a way a woman can understand! They're caught up in appearances and not showing any flaws, and one-upping everyone.
Tips for guys:
Turn the tv off and listen to what she says.
Don't wear sweatpants every day.
Don't be a smart-aleck or you will pay dearly for it.
Tips for girls:
Tell him how thankful you are, that he takes care of you.
Don't complain about everything.
Let him have guy time.
If anyone else has anything, please feel free to tell me. Everybody needs help communicating to the opposite sex. Good luck!
Do you find it in the perfect foundation that makes your skin appear flawless? The body of a movie star, caught in action at the beach?
Or is it something within... something that appears in your eye, like a sparkle, or a hint of depth? Is it the kind words you retort to the criticism you receive?
A few years back, I came across a video that exemplified society's twisted perception of beauty. We're so focused on the OUTWARD appearance of people that sometimes we skip right over a person, even if they have a heart full of love and passion.
Judging a book by its cover is wrong, and so is judging a person based on their clothing, hair, pimples, or natural beauty. And even if that person is beautiful by accepted standards, they might be competely 'fake.'
Watch how they made this woman into a supermodel.
I'm learning to accept my flaws for what they are. They make me who I am. Being flawed is perfectly fine. It's what makes us unique, and what makes us beautiful. Embrace who you are!
"Beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30
As daily lives become more busy, things constantly fall to the wayside.
I'm constantly reminded of an old white house with a wrap-around porch, with an old couple rocking back and forth sipping iced tea, waving as the cars pass.
What happened to that down time? We used to have it. Even French people know when to quit working--why don't Americans?
For some of us, there simply isn't time for that. With school, work, and family events going on simultaneously, we are forced to pick and choose which to attend, and which to ignore. Not only is this a terrible habit, but it also leaves the person feeling guilty and behind (that is, if they have a conscience).
Lately, I've found myself choosing work over everything else. Since I am paid to be there and put forth effort, my mind somehow justified itself into thinking everything else would still be waiting for me.
In the meantime, homework assignments, tests, and extra credit opportunities were slacked upon... even attendance. Obviously, I've realized focusing on work is the wrong choice.
So I'm left with two options: school, and family. It's tough to choose between any of the three, but school must be the number 1 priority since I'm paying them to attend. My family will, hopefully, understand.
That still leaves the question of time-management skills. Were it unecessary for me to sleep, I would have no such problem! But since I am old and need at least 8-hours a night, I've set up some boundaries for myself. Interestingly, they are all time-wasters, and most are found online: 1. No facebook 2. No pinterest 3. No ebay 4. May respond to friends' texts, but not hang out, and DON'T start a conversation 5. Only allowed on angel, outlook, and blogs
Some people by my age have mastered the idea of time-management, but it's a relatively new concept for me. I've not been driven up to this point. Whether it be because I disliked the curriculum of a class, or felt too weighed-down, the w ork did not get done.
I'm now accountable to all of you. I know I'm capable of great grades, if only I can find my focus. If any of you have tips on how to stay up-to-date on assignments while juggling work and home lives as well, please comment!
We see the worst in ourselves, and everyone else sees our best--until we choose to show our 'bad side'.
For years, anytime I received a compliment, I would roll my eyes and shrug it off. Sometimes I didn't even say 'thank you.' Eventually, the compliments stopped. Of course, that personal hit to my self-esteem took a toll on me and I wondered if I was ugly. Then one day, I told my friend she looked beautiful and she reacted how I always did: with a shrug and an eye roll.
My heart was crushed.
When you receive a compliment,
be humble.
be kind.
be considerate.
accept it.
Someone is trying to show you love (whether it be friendship or otherwise). Even if you don't think you look beautiful that day, smile at them and return the kind words. It will make a world of difference...
and one day you might even begin to believe them!
Reasons to Smile:
1. It takes less muscles than frowning.
2. It's attractive.
3. It's contagious.
4. It gives you endorphines.
5. Fake it 'til you make it.
6. It helps your immune system.
7. You're worth it.
ETC. ETC. ETC. ETC. ETC. ETC. ETC.
Don't forget God made you just the way you are for a reason. That in itself is a reason to smile.
School just restarted and my brain hasn't begun functioning again. My body is used to junk food and not walking 400 mi each day across campus. I find myself dragging, trying to complete each homework assignment on time but finding myself instead fixated on a screen that shows me everything I want to see except school work.
That, combined with a hectic home and work life, and I'm exhausted.
Oh, and did I mention I'm completing P90X this semester?
I'm a pretty busy girl.
My starting weight: 131
My target weight: 121
I'm on day 30.
So what do I do, now?
1. Put myself on a schedule.
2. Decide what takes priority (tv shows or sleeping).
3. Eat healthier, because I love junk food and that doesn't help me get into shape.
4. Make A's in all my classes, so that I graduate with a great GPA.
This is my life at the moment. Teaching, working out, going to school full-time, and trying to be Superwoman!
I wish you the best of luck, as I hope you wish for me!
