Post-recital thoughts: BAHGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S OVER!!!!!!!!! Not trying to brag here, but I am pretty da** proud of myself. 3 years ago, I thought that this would be impossible. In fact, quite a FEW people thought that I could never do this. But ha. I proved them all wrong, and I did a dang good job at it. As I was prepping myself backstage (taking deep breaths, rerererechecking my recital order, and telling myself I could do it), early college memories came flooding back.
My senior year of high school was the year I decided to definitely go into music. After I told my teachers, the first thing I said was that I would play in Carnegie Hall. Their response: "We want front row seats." My practice schedule in high school was roughly 30 minutes/day. That's right--5 minutes here and there just playing. People balk at this idea, or find it comical. But it worked. If you believe it didn't, then how the he** did I get into one of the best conservatories in the US?
Freshman year was a time of discovery for me. I had never been away from my parents for more than 3 weeks (in France when I was 10), and I was now many hours away. I just kept my usual practice schedule, and more often, I DIDN'T practice for weeks/months at a time. A week before my first board (ps: I was the first pianist to have a board at 8 a.m.), my piano teacher predicted my boards result: "Morgan, you know, there is always next year. Unfortunately, for the summer, you will NOT be in college. Next year, you will have to reaudition to get back into CCM. This year is just not going to be good." I was scared, sad, but most of all, that statement fueled me. I LOVE challenges. So, I saw this as a challenge. The weekend before boards (mine was Monday, went home Friday night), I practiced for 6 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, frantically memorizing music. Monday morning, I woke up at 6, took a shower, and got ready. As I was getting ready, a fire alarm went off, and we all waited outside for 15 minutes. I went back up and finished getting ready. Another fire alarm went off, so I just grabbed my books and went to practice. 1 hour later, my piano professor stood in front of me, mouth agape, questioning how I had been able to pull it off. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "I like a challenge."
Sophomore year was roughly the same. I practiced a LITTLE more, but not much. My prediction was a bit better: "Morgan, you might make it this year. But I'm not too sure." Once again, I went home, practiced, and knocked it out of the ballpark.
Junior year, I got a new piano teacher! This year, I was determined to get better at practicing. Practicing was....ok....this year, and the prediction was better: a week before, I was told that I was ready! Again, aced it.
This year, I practiced my BUTT off!!!!! 2.5+ hours daily! And it worked. The first thing my piano professor said to me as I walked out of the backstage area to get congratulated was "I knew you'd pull it off!" It was a great feeling. A LOT of my friends were there to congratulate me, and I was able to have my family and aunt down there! It was THE best night of my college life.
This recital helped me regain my passion for piano, and for that, I'm truly grateful.
Ah, yes, a check-up as well. For Lent, I gave up pop, which I realized might be a bad idea going cold turkey. So, still keeping my weekly goals, but I have decided to give up cursing. I am always telling my mom that I want to be more girlie, and one thing she says is "Classy ladies don't cuss." Oh, man....you should hear the words I came up to replace them. Mother of fudge and all chocolate! Darnbarn it! GodblessAmericana!!! Fudgeisyummy! Shi-takealot! My other goal of not drinking as many sugary drinks is going well--my first Starbucks drink of the week was yesterday, and I got a small. One a week?!?! Unheard of for me! Success!! :D
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