Pneumonia aside, D’s first weeks at UArts have been fabulous. UArts has exceeded her high expectations. Her classes have challenged and stimulated her, and she’s learning so much. She’s excited to go to them all. Plus, D loves being surrounded by people who are creative, driven, and focused, and find great joy in that. She also enjoys how everything she’s learning ties into art and the human experience in some way. It’s a fabulous environment for her!
D was delighted to discover that a person who was an auditor for UArts with whom she felt connected at her audition is one of her professors, and the intelligence, depth, and enthusiasm she glimpsed at the audition is completely present in the course this person teaches. Her other professors/teachers have similarly impressed her. (Tbh, the jury is still out a bit on her writing prof. To be fair, her other profs have been incredible, though, and D’s only had this class twice. Her roommate, also an honors student, has the same class, has had it a couple more times than D, and really appreciates the prof and says the prof has already helped her writing a lot.)
Dance is not only leveled, but within D’s dance classes, instruction is individualized. Although D is a natural dancer, has a lot of dance experience (including pointe), and picks up choreography quickly (not just mom-brag statements; her dance was praised during college auditions, for example), she remained in the beginning ballet class because it’s been a little over 2 years since she’s been in ballet class. (All of those shows made dance classes difficult to fit in!) At first, D was disappointed, but then she realized that her instructor levels within the class, too, so her instruction has been appropriate for her, and she’s been pleased. Plus, with the pneumonia episode, it’s a good thing D wasn’t placed higher.
D was eager to audition for a student-directed show, but auditions for it were earlier this week, and her voice teacher advised her to not audition for anything yet because of the pneumonia. We both appreciated that advice! She’s really watching out for D’s vocal health. Speaking of her voice teacher, D contacted me after her very first voice lesson excitedly saying, “I learned so much already!” Plus, she got paired with the voice teacher that her excellent voice teacher at home had picked as the one she most wanted D to have, which is neat. (D’s home teacher researched the voice teachers at each of the schools D was admitted.)
Each of the other classes and professors have similar positive stories. She can’t point to favorites! She totally enjoys and is engrossed by them all.
While I was staying with her last week, D showed me a paper she had written. Before my staying-home and homeschool-mom days, I was an English and journalism teacher, and I’ve known for a while that D is a gifted writer and deep thinker. However, I was blown away by the depth of analysis that D showed. When I told D this, she just laughed and said, “They’ve already made it so I can’t just look at a circle as a circle anymore!”
A nature lover, D also loves attending school in a big city and on an urban campus, especially right in the middle of Philly’s Avenue of the Arts. It has been an amazing, exciting experience for her so far.
D feels like she’s found her tribe and her place. She actually feels right at home and hasn’t been homesick in the least; she’s enjoying herself so much! She does call/text/FaceTime every day, though, which is good. She still loves us, lol! (Not that not hearing from her would mean she doesn’t love us; it was a joke. So, if you’re not hearing from your child frequently, I’m sure he/she still loves you, too. 
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