What could be my last blog...

Hey!

I felt my title today could either be in relation to the end of the year coming, or to my life ending after finals. I don't know the answer yet.

In all honesty, this week is going to be pretty relaxed compared to the chaos of last week. I have one two hour test a day for the next three days, and then I get to go home. Piece of cake. It's funny, because when you're on college, the administration tries to make finals week as stress free as possible for students. However, that only causes the professors and instructors to shove all of their non-final-related quizzes, projects, and papers to the week before finals. I guess the same can be said for some high-schools. Finals seem to just be a formality. In any case, this week is going to go by fast. However, I also know the end of this week will only bring the beginning of a crazy summer of trying to make as much money as I can in as little of time as I can.

I'll just try not to think about it. It's been a nice year of working about 40 hours a month, and I'm not looking forward to changing that. One thing I am looking forward to, though, is doing a lot of traveling this summer. My brother is on a traveling AAU basketball team and has tournaments every weekend from anywhere around Indianapolis to Sioux Falls. My family usually tags along as his groupies. We'll see how long it takes me to develop a phobia of car rides with them.

I guess I should probably reflect on this year too, not to give any readers whiplash or anything from the subject change.

I always thought people who said their first year of college changed them were special cases. Like, I expected some changes in style, weight, or intelligence, but never expected to become a different person. Perhaps I should rephrase that, I think I've actually just become myself. This first year has helped me with my identity more than anything else in the last 19. It could have been the people I spent my time with or some of the classes I took. I personally attribute it to becoming independent. I learned a lot about saving money and spending it. About eating regularly, or getting enough sleep. My parents were never any more overbearing than anyone else's, but it was a big deal for me to suddenly not have someone giving me the final say on things, and not having to ask permission.

Apart from changing, I also had some experiences this year that really shaped me here at Luther. Norsemen has to be at the top of the list. I shoved anything to do with music, let alone choral music, out of my head in high school because I was convinced that I wouldn't want it due to the fact that choir directors make less than Doctors. It's funny how it took me until now to realize that a career shouldn't be built on finances, but on what will make you jump out of bed in the morning before your alarm goes off. I've also taken some classes that have helped me decide what's not for me. I also learned that playing piano can come in handy if you enjoy supplemental income, or just want something to do on a Wednesday at 11:45 pm.

It's been a great year, and as always, I hope the college search is going well for everyone!

Have a good summer,

Jake

There was once this thing called sleep in my life...

'this one time, I drank a whole can of Mountain Deewwww, and was up all night and then the next morning I was like 'Oh what a beautiful Morninnnnnn!'



That's from a Saturday night live skit that basically describes my life right now.

Well, hello everyone! It's crunch time. Everyone is preparing for finals, finishing up papers, and or getting ready for other end of the year things, like juries. I've been feeling it since about the middle of last week when I had 2 papers due and a million other music things going on. Lately, I've been throwing myself into my music compositions. We had our final composition assignment in Theory this last Friday, and it reignited my composition hobby. Lets just say that the distraction wasn't helpful to my papers. I am in the process of finishing up a research paper on Frank Lloyd Wright for Art History, and am beginning one on "How Civil Disobedience could have shifted the outcome of the Holocaust." Sounds interesting right? Along with all of those things, I have the normal course-load as well as all of the people I have to accompany for for voice juries.

This is where my opening comes in. I feel like I'm getting too comfortable with pulling all-nighters. Actually, I know I'm getting too comfortable with them, because now I'm either catching a cold or having a marathon against seasonal allergies. Either way, I think I can blame lack of sleep and surplus of stress for my current sore throat and stuffy sinuses.

However, it's not stopping me from enjoying the green! It has been so nice up here lately. Even though there have been several days where it rains in the morning, it usually is perfectly sunny by the late afternoon. I like weather that is warn enough to keep you comfortable in shorts, but also not hot enough to necessitate a portable air conditioner (which is normal for Iowa).

As far as my music life goes, I'm now done with both Norsemen and Jazz Band. We had our final concerts and they both went great. Now Nordic and Cathedral auditions are underway for all first years who want to continue in a Luther college choir. I'm hoping for Nordic, even though it's not a tour year, they are going to the West Coast for the month of January (I opted out of Greece because of the price tag), and I've never been farther west than Utah. It'd be a lot of fun.

But, duty calls. I need to read the Paideia book my paper is supposed to be about ;)

Later,
Jake