The past three days have been wonderful. I've gotten things done, enjoyed most of my classes, and attended a Halloween party with the music therapy club. On Tuesday, in my research methods class, Dr. Jackson was talking about all kinds of qualitative research studies that have been done with the dozens of designs there are and it really got me excited again. Then I got frustrated because I just want to know more about everything but I don't have time right now and I don't even know where to start! So, as usual, I stopped by Dr. Jackson's office to have a chat. To make a long story short, I will be doing another research project: a hermeneutic self-study on how my classes influence my feelings and thoughts on who I am/want to be as a music therapist and my learning process. This will be extremely good for me because it will help me iron out some thoughts and learn more about myself. That in itself made my week.

Then, I had my voice lesson on Wednesday. I had been dreading it because I felt a little unprepared. When I walked in, my professor was in a very good, yet crazy, mood. He said he actually considered calling me to tell me not to come in because I'm so far ahead (and he didn't want to hear those songs again :) )! But since I was there, we looked at two more pieces I could sing. Then, when my accompanist came in, my professor said, "How about we just chat and have coffee and donuts next week?" He was serious. So, my lesson next week will consist of having breakfast with my voice instructor and accompanist :). That night was the Halloween party with the club. It was a lot of fun! A ton of people came and it was great to just get to know each other better. I brought Killer Bunnies which is an AWESOME card game. Craig and Bethany and I taught it to some people and we played it for a while.

The next morning I woke up with a familiar pain in my left eye. I looked at my eyes in the mirror and they were completely bloodshot. Not pink, but red. Then the pain intensified and I had to keep my eyes closed. It seems like my corneas are still weak and I may have issues with my eyes again. I did wear my contacts a lot longer than usual yesterday so I am just going to wait a few days and see if they get better before I make an appointment with my doctor. I really hope I don't have to do away with my contacts forever!

This Saturday is State Finals for marching bands and I am really excited to be going again. My parents got a complimentary room at the hotel my high school band stays at because my dad volunteers to take pictures of the band. Naturally, I will be staying with them Friday night. I wish all of the bands going the best of luck and want to give a special shout-out to my old high school band, the Concord Marching Minutemen!

I hope the rest of you have a great week/end as well!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week has been pretty crazy again. My Monday was actually pretty good but after about 4:00, things just started getting crazy and hectic again.

Monday afternoon I went to my therapy session with two fellow student music therapists. There were only four kids there but three of them were pretty difficult. I didn't really get as frustrated as the other two, but it certainly stressed me out. The kids were simply messing around and not answering questions the way they were supposed to. Not a big deal though :).
Today (Thursday), I had a great session! I wish I would've done some things differently, but I'm generally happy with the way things went. Also, I had a meeting with Dr. Jackson about my research project that definitely made my week. She said I am on the right track and there are really great possibilities for my project in the future (beyond the class)! It makes me really happy to know that I'm doing things just fine. She's told me quite a few times now that I'm "on the right path; a very long one, but the right one!" Let's hope she's right :)

I've got so much to do this weekend! I have four 300+pg books to read for my research project, an arranging project, my arranging midterm (which is online, thankfully!), a conducting midterm to study for, a history test and listening exam to study for, a concert to go to and report to right on it, and the usual planning of my session, cleaning, and laundry. Despite the work waiting for me, I'm ready to have time out of the classroom and just be at home.

I realize I talk about my work load quite a bit but that's really what my life basically consists of. Sorry :)

I hope your week is going just wonderful and you have less work than me!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My break was wonderful! I had pretty busy days on Friday and Saturday. We had a meeting for STARs, went to a concert, and did homework Friday night. Saturday morning I worked at Homestead. The wind ensemble had the opportunity to have a booth set up, advertising the music program. Because most of the wind ensemble members were either working with bands or going home for break, I volunteered to work a six hour shift. I wasn't too excited about it because it was part of my weekend off, but it really ended up being fun. I spent the rest of that night doing more homework. On Sunday, I went home and attempted to finish up my homework. On Monday, I made myself take the day off. I ran a few errands, practiced a little bit, and just sat on the couch for most of the day...it was awesome! That evening, my dad and I went to a choir concert at my old high school. It was so weird to only know a handful of the people performing! Then came Tuesday. I headed back to Fort Wayne and did a little more homework. I felt pretty good about my weekend :).
Then came Wednesday...

I took a few days off over the weekend, and after just one class, I already felt behind. We had a listening exam in Music History which, I admit, I wasn't totally prepared for (apparently most of the class wasn't either). I tried not to let it get my down because I knew I wasn't ready for it, but I hate not feeling good about tests. Then I had my voice lesson. I did practice over the weekend but I was so tired and cold that I felt as though I hadn't even said a word for a week, let alone worked on my pieces. Thankfully my teacher helped me push through it and put a smile on my face as always. The rest of my classes that day weren't too bad thankfully.
That evening, one phone call made my day.

I was sitting in my car and flipping through my contacts when I came across the Eye Clinic's number. I haven't worn contacts for just over 8 months now and have had little to no pain for at least 5 of those months...I want to wear contacts again. On a whim, I called the number and explained the situation. The woman who answered the phone said I can try my contacts again! She said as long as the pain and/or extreme dryness isn't there, I don't need to wear my glasses! It was an early birthday present. :)

I'm glad this is only a three-day week but I hope I can be content with where I'm at with my school work and general feelings on life. We'll see!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am so happy that fall break is this weekend--I need it! Thankfully, most of my teachers got the tests out of the way so I won't have as much homework to do compared to a normal weekend. Despite that, I can't really afford to take four days off. I'm technically not behind in any of my classes but I feel like I've been working hard to keep up. I would like to use some of this time off to tie up some loose ends and finish up some projects and assignments that aren't due until the end of next week. I'm hoping to get a lot of it done on Saturday but I will be working six hours at Homestead (the IPFW Wind Ensemble will have a booth set up during the marching band competition). No matter what, I am going to make myself take a day and either do something fun or do absolutely nothing...hopefully to reset myself.

I am starting to look ahead at my class schedule for next semester and even next year. I want my senior year to be pretty light with classes because I will have other big things to worry about: I will have my senior recital in the fall, I will need to be applying for internships, and I will need to start making some big decisions on where I need to be/go after my internship. It's scary but exciting! I feel as though this semester has really flown by and I can't imagine how fast my next three semesters will go by as well. I was joking with my friends the other day about how I feel as though I should have an assistant that tells me what I need to know, exactly when I need to know it so I won't forget to do anything important (like study for these midterms!).

My sessions are going pretty well. I am certainly learning more about myself and this practicum is stretching me. I had a chat with Dr. Jackson about some issues I have been having and she said something I hadn't thought about in a while: "Don't let yourself get in the way of what you're doing. Sometimes we can be our biggest enemy in helping people." That's important for me to remember, especially during this practicum.

Speaking of which, I should head on out to my session!

Posted by Kim Yoder at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)