Futurizing the flock

Just as FYI, I would love to come back in two years if you two are still teaching together. If I had to come back and give a "speech" to my little sister class this is what it would be:

"Hey little sister class, first of all, good choice for coming to Converse. Whether you've known all along that you wanted to come to Converse or, like me, you decided to come at the last minute, welcome. Before I give you my speech I want to tell you a little about myself. I was born and raised here in Spartanburg. I have two younger brother, two dogs, a dad and step-mom, whom I love very very much. I also have a boyfriend that I've been dating for 4 years and I love him like crazy. Coming to Converse was a great decision that i made. I have made some many new friends here and I love it. At first I wasn't sure about the whole all girl thing and said no I'll never go to Converse, well I'm here. I like being around all girls all the time. I feel secure and comfortable. And for the people who don't have boyfriends, you don't have to worry about looking cute for guys because there are none.

Now, I want to talk to you all about some challenges that I faced as a freshman and how I overcame them. I'm sure a lot of you are going through the same things, especially since you are music majors. First, a big thing that can help you succeed big time in college is time management. I had a very hard time my first few weeks of my freshman year with this and it hurt. I would know that I had to do something and instead of making a time chart to know when to do it I would just say I'll do it later. Then I would end up doing it at late hours of the night because I forgot. Spread your time out too. I would study for a exam for 30 minutes then practice piano for 30 minutes then work on a paper for 30 minutes and so on. Spending only a certain amount of time on things kept them from getting boring and I got them done a lot faster. Another challenge I faced was actually having to practice. I never practiced in high school and now if I don't practice then I won't get anywhere and I'll never become a great musician so I make sure I practice at least 30 minutes a day on each instruments. Yes, I said instruments with an "s" because I am learning how to play piano for the first time and learning more on guitar. The last challenge is distractions. I love facebook texting and and talking on the phone and everything else, but I had to start forcing myself to stop doing those while I was working on homework because I wouldn't get my work done.


Some things that surprised me were how independent I was. There wasn't any teachers reminding me about assignments coming up that I needed to turn in until the day they were due. I missed a few assignments because I didn't realize that I had them. Look at the syllabus that the teacher gives and write everything that you have to turn in or read in you planner or whatever because that will help and you won't forget. Also, my parents were not on my case anymore wondering how my grades were or what I had coming up to turn in or wanting to read my essays. They really don't ask me anything about school besides "how was school?" I like that but it surprised me when I was a freshman.

I have learned a lot since my freshman year and I'm about to sum it all up with these four things: 1. Manage your time 2. practice 3. get a planner 4. don'committed t get distracted while trying to do your homework. Thanks for letting me come talk to you. Sorry if I talked you ear off, I love to talk to people and give advice for improving their lives, that is why I am a music therapy major. The last bit of advice that I want to give is how to survive in the face of adversity. My mom committed suicide when I was in 3rd grade. I tell you this because instead of giving up on life and saying I quit I told myself that I wanted to be the very best I could be and succeed in everything. That thinking and determination got me here to Converse on a full ride scholarship. One of my favorite quotes every is "never, never, never give up" and I add to that "no matter what happens. "