I wake at 5 am. Immediately I am aware that today is the written exam. I get ready and wander toward the exam room (the Alumni Room near the small chapel), wondering if the buildings are still locked this early in the morning. I prefer to just sit in the hall until time arrives.
It is eerie sitting there alone. The sanctuary is being renovated and the hall is populated with chairs and pews and a few small tables, all cordoned off with yellow caution tape. The door to the room is locked, but the small chapel is open and I go in and say a quick prayer. I know I have done what I could to prepare, and the results are in God's hands. Half of me is sure I will do OK, the other half in a panic that I will forget important things. Overall though, I know I am a better church musician because of my studies here, so no matter today's results, I am content.
A few minutes before 8 Dr. Doebele comes with laptop and flash drive and paperwork. I am instructed that I have only 3 hours to complete all sections. I should allot only about a half hour per section. When I am done, save my work to the flash drive and turn it in at the office. OK. Begin!
The clock is ticking. I complete the first section on Handbells. That goes OK. Then on the the next sections. Somewhere along the line, I feel as if I should just fill in the basics so I have longer for the analyses (choral and theory), and I decide that I will come back and augment and make my answers "prettier." The theory part takes me longer than I expected. I am slow about that stuff. I finally tell myself to move on. Time is flying away.
I love the conductor score preparation part and type furiously. I complete the Passion history section and have now worked through everything. I will go back now and redo the sections I skimped a bit on. But wait! I have only 1 minute of my precious 3 hours left! My heart sinks. Sigh. Well, I know what will be on my orals tomorrow. I save carefully, wrap everything up, and head out the door.
Passing, but not my usual quality of work. What was I thinking scheduling this so soon after a chemo treatment??? 5 weeks is not enough recovery time. Well, no matter. What is done is done. Best to bone up on the weak sections and move on.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
FINALLY!
Finally! I can concentrate on getting this stuff in my head. I work systematically subject by subject. Handbells - know the facts and be able to describe the techniques. Check. Theory - can't really prepare for the harmonic analysis, but I must know all the Neopolitan chord stuff and basic things to assess. Conductor analysis - know the list of what to prepare. Check. Know the various issues with preparing choral works from each era. Involved, but check. Choral Literature - know the development and important names for my selected genre, the Passions. Check. Hymnody - know the important movements and names. Check. Issues in Church Music - be able to answer the questions on the list. Trickier. But OK.
By noon I had covered all the material. But keeping it in my head will be the thing. I eat lunch, take a walk by the lake, and review my cards, trying to recite from memory the parts or create acronyms for the various pieces. Funny how many lists have 7 components. I take a short nap, then review again. I wander about the dorm, conversing with various people I bump into until it is time for the Coburg Recital - the annual showcase of what students have been working on this year.
I make my way to the sanctuary to hear performances of organ pieces, handbell pieces, solos, and one choral piece. I smile. It is comforting to be on the listening side of the event. Tomorrow seems a long way off, but I decline the invitation to get ice cream. I know that will stretch late into the evening and I need my rest.
I bid friends farewell and head to my room. 8 am will come soon enough.
By noon I had covered all the material. But keeping it in my head will be the thing. I eat lunch, take a walk by the lake, and review my cards, trying to recite from memory the parts or create acronyms for the various pieces. Funny how many lists have 7 components. I take a short nap, then review again. I wander about the dorm, conversing with various people I bump into until it is time for the Coburg Recital - the annual showcase of what students have been working on this year.
I make my way to the sanctuary to hear performances of organ pieces, handbell pieces, solos, and one choral piece. I smile. It is comforting to be on the listening side of the event. Tomorrow seems a long way off, but I decline the invitation to get ice cream. I know that will stretch late into the evening and I need my rest.
I bid friends farewell and head to my room. 8 am will come soon enough.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Long Drive
Finally I can turn my attention to my written comprehensive exams for my Master of Church Music degree. After 7 years of coursework, recital preparation and execution, dissertation writing and learning, I now need to recall and remember EVERYTHING! Yikes! No small feat for someone with chemo brain, I assure you. I have not had time to properly prepare. I have created study cards, written out answers to the questions, and tried desperately to be prepared for whatever may come. Now I have lost valuable time that I will not be able to make up.
I have to say I was not looking forward to a 12 hour drive, but things are what they are. Here I am driving driving driving all day all day all day. I want to stop and just work on memorization, but I cannot. I must Get There. And when I do get there, I encounter one last curve. We are now - at long last and deservedly so - housed in the new dorm. Nice. Air conditioned. View of the lake incredible. But I have to learn new ropes and find my way with less than a lot of assistance. Everyone else has been in them for weeks, and I am not in the same wing as they are.
No matter. It only takes me a short while to settle in, unpack and take a deep breath. I lay out my study guides and materials, but I am too worn out to do much more than a cursory look before I fall into bed. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will get one entire day to pull it all together. God help me, I hope it will be enough.
I have to say I was not looking forward to a 12 hour drive, but things are what they are. Here I am driving driving driving all day all day all day. I want to stop and just work on memorization, but I cannot. I must Get There. And when I do get there, I encounter one last curve. We are now - at long last and deservedly so - housed in the new dorm. Nice. Air conditioned. View of the lake incredible. But I have to learn new ropes and find my way with less than a lot of assistance. Everyone else has been in them for weeks, and I am not in the same wing as they are.
No matter. It only takes me a short while to settle in, unpack and take a deep breath. I lay out my study guides and materials, but I am too worn out to do much more than a cursory look before I fall into bed. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will get one entire day to pull it all together. God help me, I hope it will be enough.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)