These past couple days have been pretty busy, and it's been tough to get my blog posts in, on Thursday it was just pure luck. I was up at DePaul for an orientation, called Premiere DePaul, all day Thursday and Friday. It was a blast, and it gave us a chance to really meet some of our classmates up close. Along with that the music students got to take placement exams and register for classes. It was such a great time these last couple days that I wanted to share some of the highlights from my Premiere DePaul.
On Thursday I had to wake up at 5 AM to get ready to leave. After my mom and I got packed and were good to go, we were out the door. From Dubuque it’s about a four hour drive to Chicago. This drive was pretty easy since it’s mostly on one highway, but once you get into Chicago that’s a whole different story. If you’ve never had to drive in a big city, then call yourself blessed. People running red lights, passing on the shoulder, and all those tight streets -- I can only imagine how much worse that must be in the winter too. With that being said I was not the one driving, huge thanks to my mother. She managed to keep her sanity long enough to get us into the parking garage across the street from DePaul.
A lot the day was filled with different tours and informational meetings to get to know the school better. For music students this meant learning what it would take to graduate, and what level of commitment would be expected from a music student at DePaul. We then took the music theory placement exam to see if we’d be in a beginner, intermediate, or advanced theory class. For saying I really haven’t been exposed to much theory this summer I did pretty well and managed to test into the intermediate level for theory and aural training.
Later that night it was entertaining because a few theater students from DePaul put on a play about what it’s like the first few weeks at college. They did a great job and managed to make it really funny and educational, without being cheesy or preachy. After they finished we then broke into groups of about 24 and talked about the play, but eventually just got talking about life. It was great hearing the stories that all the different students had and it really made me realize that they were all a lot like me, no matter what their major was.
That night we all got together again and just had fun up in the athletic center. It started out with just a few things to get us pumped and woken up. After that we got back in our 24 person groups and competed against the other teams in a bunch of random games. Our team was named “De Winning Vinnies” and I’m glad to say… We won!
Day Two:
The next day 8 AM snuck up pretty fast on all of us, and we were already at it again. It started out with a few informational meetings about safety and all that jazz. In the middle of the presentations we started hearing some pretty hard thunder though and it seemed to be raining pretty hard…
Once we finished the presentations, four for us music students were scheduled to go down to the School of Music and finish exams and register for classes. The rain was pouring and for about 10 minutes the five of us, four music students and a student leader, attempted to fit underneath one umbrella. After the 10 minute mark we realized… we were only halfway there! So then we ditched the umbrella and sprinted full speed for the building (probably not the best day to wear a white shirt).
We arrived, soaked to the skin, but luckily they let us use the hand dryers in the bathroom. Then we split off to either take the piano proficiency exam, learn the results of the theory exam, or to look at our schedule. I’ve never taken piano lessons, and the only techniques I have are the basics that I learned from some of my friends at high school. Surprisingly enough, I was able to test into the intermediate group piano as well. I hope that doesn’t come around to bite me later.
Now before I’m done I just have a couple random things to post…
I found a current DePaul horn student and he was kind enough to share the audition list with me. For those of you who that are curious…
Finally, here is my schedule for first quater, minus the Applied Lessons. This first quarter is a lot like a music conservatory in that I have all music classes, and even the Gen. Ed. covers music.
The morning lecture Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is Music Theory I and Aural Training I. The lecture on Tuesday and Thursday is Group Piano I. At night are my large ensemble rehearsals, but we won't know which ensemble until after auditions. Then Thursday night is a "Discover Chicago - Music Scene" class, which is where we get to go to shows and sometimes meet the artists up close and personal. I'm hoping going to get my Applied Lessons on Tuesday night, but that's all TBA. Should be a fun, and challenging, quarter but that's exactly what I want from a school like DePaul.
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