I was in a terrific mood yesterday. Several teachers even noted it.
I think it’s because I know I’m going to leave.
Need someone to proctor an exam? Absolutely. Corral freshmen? Sure. Assign seats to testers and guard backpacks during my conference period? You betcha.
The year’s end brings so many other reasons to leave public education. Or one, really, cropping up again and again: testing.
At my high school, we test and test and test. And test. It feels like we’ve been testing for weeks now, and it’s next to impossible to hold an actual class, because so many students have been pulled out for, you guessed it, more testing. It’s depressing.
Oh, I want to say more about this, but I have to shower before my rehearsal tonight.
And speaking of rehearsal, I’m planning to write about music and singing, once I have some time to breathe.
Oh all right, I’ll say a little. About singing, that is. I had just arrived at a place where I was feeling pretty comfortable with myself and my voice. I was considering training again, and had even toyed with the idea of finishing my vocal performance degree.
But the second I started to feel secure, I got this solo. And it is killing me. Or I am killing it, I should say, and not in a good way. And I’m back to square one again, forced to remember why I didn’t pursue music in the first place: I just can’t cut it.
Other singers in this particular organization are so professional. It doesn’t seem like they ever make mistakes. And of course, they could sing circles around me on this piece, and they know it. (And incidentally, many who couldn’t sing circles around me have corrected and/or coached me over the past few days, leading me to remember another reason why I didn’t pursue music: singers (with some exceptions, of course) suck.
Seriously, lady! Do I have to post all my blogs where I speak of how I just adore your voice? That it makes me giddy and serene at the same time. I am so excited to see you tomorrow. Amazon will be in attendance as always, and trust me, you are one of our favorite sopranos. I am so not a fan of the, erm, old standby (BJ).
Anyway, don’t stress, just last night The Boy was saying how good you sounded!