THANK YOU - and college!

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It's the beginning of September, and that means crisp air, the beginning of frost on car windows in the morning, and BACK TO SCHOOL FOR EVERYONE.

And let me start out by saying thank you. After two months of college preparation hell, in the midst of unemployment and job transfers, I received so many responses for commission work to fill in the gaps, to keep me busy and motivated, and help keep a roof over our head and food on the table to prevent Craig from being overworked at HIS job. To give you an idea of what you all did, let me write out an objective list of what your commissions paid for:

:bulletblack: Two months of car insurance payments
:bulletblack: Two months of phone payments
:bulletblack: ALL of the books I needed for college
:bulletblack: Groceries and other miscellaneous food things
:bulletblack: Replenishing stock and supplies for conventions

And many more things that I can't recall off the top of my head. But I think you can see the point. In the face of adversity, YOU helped me make these things happen. I wake up every morning reminded of how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life, and I cannot be more grateful. :)



Which leads into the other half of this entry - college! After a year of talking about it, I'm finally starting Calvin College, transferring in as a junior to get my bachelor's degree in musical theater composition. A far cry from art, yes - but theater has always been my biggest passion, and music has always been my life.

Starting out at College of DuPage in 2007, I knew I wanted to pursue music as a career, but for some reason, education didn't grab me, and a performance degree intimidated the hell out of me. I couldn't explain what or why - I just KNEW that this was my calling, and I had to chase it as far as it would go. Fast forward to 2011, taking Music Theory IV and starting on the big project - a final composition between 4-6 minutes performed live in a recital in May. Any genre, any style, any instrumentation, only limited by our imagination (and up to seven players).

This is the result.

This piece, and the following year in a composition workshop studying the music from ensemble Eighth Blackbird, affirmed what I'd spent years trying to figure out.

And one more long story later, we're now out here in Grand Rapids living the dream and studying the art of composing for musical theater. I have two stories I want to write and score in my lifetime, and I'm sure there will be more in the future, but for now, we're taking things one day - and one class - at a time :)


I've got three more commissions to finish before my backlog is completely clear. So let me leave you with this last statement: I would not be where I am without you, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you.
© 2013 - 2024 shadowednavi
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PurpleChaos's avatar
My love to you and yours.