The First Week at Penn State!

Day 6

August 23, 2010

Today I woke up and got a shower and got dressed and went on my way to my to my first college class, Music Theory I. I walked over to the Music building for class. I found my friend Audrey, and we met the professor Tom Cody. He seemed like a pretty chill guy. We talked about some basic things about theory and music and the like. Then I went over to Audrey’s suite. Who happened to be suite-mates with Ali. We hung around there until it was time for my Freshman Music Education Seminar (or FMES!). I think I’m going to really enjoy that class. It’s basically going to be the transition from student to teacher. J. At the end of this class, I called my parents, who had just picked up my brother from the airport after his 3-month stay in Germany! It was so good to know that he was safe and sound back in America! Then I went to get lunch with an old Tamaqua Crew. Myself, Corey, Bheff, and Geoff. Geoff brought along his roommate too, who is also named Geoff. What are the chances? On the way to lunch it poured rain on Bheff and me. We got there and found Corey, Geoff, and Geoff. We talked about classes and such. I then went home and hung out until it was time for me to leave for blue band. Since it was raining we were inside in the band room. We worked on stand music and chasers. After Blue Band I went to rescom so that I could finally get on the Internet and I went back to my dorm to surf the web since I hadn’t gotten to do that in a long time. I went to bed early because I had to get up early for my 8 o’clock class on Wednesday. Ugh.

Day 7

August 24, 2010

ONE WEEK! It went by to quickly! I had Sight Singing this morning. The professor is a Teacher’s Assistant. He is hardly fluent in piano skills. I don’t know if he was nervous or what, but he could hardly play simple triads. It was kind of frustrating to be taught by someone who didn’t seem like he knew what he was doing. Hopefully it will get better. After that, we went back to the girl’s suite in North Halls. We all had about an hour off until our next class. We hung there for a while and then set out to find our next class The Science of Music. We got there after taking the long way and getting a little off track and we walked in 5 minutes early and we saw 100 people looking at us. We had to sit apart from each other because of how packed the class was. The class itself seems to be very interesting. We would cover topics from every sense of scientific music. From acoustics, to the anatomy of the ear, to using electronic music. By the end of the class I was feeling it. I was tired. Tuesdays are going to be a long day. Audrey and I had World Literature right after Science of Music. We got into class and sat down. The professor was very very nice. She expects a lot from her students. But it you take it seriously, you will be fine. It was so hard to stay awake. It wasn’t even fair. She gave us 50 pages to read for the next class. UGGHHH. That’s a lot to do. After that class I went and met with the Tuba Euphonium Studio Freshman and some upperclassmen for lunch. I met Corey Durham, a Euphonium/Tuba performance major. He would be teaching us in a master class about playing our instruments and everyone would give feedback. Then I went back to my dorm to organize and rest myself before Blue Band at 7. We were out on the field. It was a fairly cool night but I managed to start sweating. We rehearsed our first half time show for most of practice. At the end we lined up in pregame fanfare block and ran through pregame. Blue Band seems to be all about digging in deep when you are most tired. After practice I went home and passed out for the night.

Day 8

August 25, 2010

I’ve been away at college for one week, and my parents already have to come up to check on me! I’m just kidding! They were on their way bringing my brother Aaron up. I went to 9 am Music Theory and then went back to my dorm to start on my homework. I read most of my World Lit reading and passed out on my bed around 12:30. My mom called me around 2 and told me that she could see Beaver Stadium. I got dressed and went to meet my family at the Bursar’s office. When I got there my mom and gram gave me a big hug. My dad and brother went in to take care of some business. I waited anxiously to see my brother. When he finally came out, I gave him a big hug and swung him around a little bit. I was glad he was up here with me. We then went to his apartment above the Starbucks above College Ave. (This will be my headquarters after this year J) We started to unload all of my brother’s new IKEA furniture up into the apartment. After about 45 minutes of loading I had to leave for Blue Band. My dad drove me to my dorm to change and then took me to the field. About halfway through practice, my family showed up to watch me march around and play. We were practicing the half time show so it wasn’t as exciting as pregame was, but it was still cool to have them watching me. After rehearsal we all went to Five Guys! YES!! So good! It is also within spitting distance of Aaron’s apartment. After we were all full of greasy burgers and fries, we said goodbye to my parents and gram, and then Aaron and I went up to his apartment to chill out. I helped him build his desk and some tables. I really like IKEA’s furniture. It’s so simple, yet so cool. After we were done, some of his friend’s stopped over to say hi and welcome him back to the USA. Soon after they left, I left to walk home. It only took about 25 minutes to get to my place. I finished my World Lit readings, did some theory homework, and played around on Sibelius. I passed out around 1:30. Crap. I have an 8 AM class tomorrow.

Day 9

August 26, 2010

I woke up this morning tired. Not good considering that I have a ton a classes today. I went and got some breakfast and went to my sight singing class. It wasn’t much better than what Tuesday was. The prof was a bore and I felt like we as a class could be doing so much more if he would be more fluent with his piano skills. Whatever. We went back to the girl’s suite for a little then left for Science of Music. We got there early and got decent seats together. The class started out fun. We talked about the history of acoustics. It was really interesting. He even had videos and pictures of people playing the first forms of instruments. We saw the evolution from primitive flute type instruments, to drums, and other instruments. I was starting to feel tired an I knew that I would have to get through World Lit before I would be able to rest. World Lit was like a mental work out in order to get through. After that class we went back to North Halls and just chilled out. A bunch of people ended up coming over and we watched the first season of Hey Arnold! Great times. We ended up watching 5 or 6 different episodes of Hey Arnold before we kind of gravitating away. My brother called me and we decided to go for dinner. We met at the hub and walked to my dorm commons. We ate and then Aaron had to go to a meeting. I went back to my dorm and hung around until I left to go to Champs with the Tuba/Euphonium Studio. It was a great time and I met some new people. I got to meet our professor while Professor Brown is out on medical leave. He is a 2006 graduate of Penn State and he is a really nice guy. After we had a great meal we came home and I tried to fall asleep while the rest of my floor was blasting music. I’m a little upset.

Day 10

August 27, 2010

I went to my morning theory class and then waited for my parents to show up. They were bringing my brother’s mattress and my computer chair up for me to use. After that, we all went out to eat and I went to Blue Band. I came back home and got ready to go out with the baritones. We went over to our friend’s house and chilled out there until we decided to go home around 2 am.

The First Weekend

Saturday I slept in until noon. Wow did it feel good. I woke up and Aaron called me. We took a road trip to Wal-Mart and then went out to eat at Applebee’s! Then Aaron went to the AT&T Store to buy a new iPhone. After that I went to the laundry mat behind Aaron’s apartment to do my first load of laundry! It took forever. The dryers were crap. It took about 2 hours all together. Then I went home and got ready to go out with some blue band friends. We went out on the town for the night and I got home around 12:30.

Sunday I woke up around 11 and decided to do some homework. I finished some music education seminar and then decided to go practice for a little bit. I walked over to the music building and went into a practice room. An hour and a half later I walked out feeling pretty good about my practice time. I went to check the symphonic band auditions. Still not up. Then I went to meet my friends Ali and Jess near the hub lawn. We walked around and went to the bookstore and I got a few things. Then we walked up to the music building to see if the symphonic band results were up. We got there and checked them. I am 4^th chair in the symphonic band. There are only 4 euphoniums but that’s still good! Then I walked home and hung and around and did my homework for theory and inart. I got done my stuff and decided to just hang out in my dorm for the night. I fooled around on Sibelius and wrote a pretty cool arrangement of You Are So Beautiful for baritones. I talked with some old friends on Skype to see how they were doing. It was good to talk to some people that I knew.