Sounds like most have a general direction in mind. I thought my daughter would be interested in sort of the general social justice direction, but her first course in that area seems to be her least favorite at the moment. She will probably need all the time she has before she has to declare to decide. I just hope we aren’t on the 5 year plan already!
My daughter did not get into symphonic band. She froze up during her audition, and simply quit in the middle of each of the three pieces. Basically she made one mistake in the middle of each, and couldn’t continue after that mistake. She cannot handle being solo, ever, unless there are other people on stage with her (as in having a solo part in a larger composition) or after she is comfortable with a group, such as in a chair challenge. Being the center of attention on stage in front of the judges was too much for her.
I have no idea what to suggest. She now feels she is a terrible horn player, despite surviving three years of challenges for first chair in her high school honors band. And too embarrassed to talk to the band director about her solo problem.
Playing audtions is tough, and intimidating, especially when competing with peers who have a lot of experience with auditions.
@LadyArwyn is there a concert band that is open to anyone who plays a musical instrument or is participation only by audition? At my daughter’s college there is both. Concert band is noncompetitive except for chairs, but all who sign up for it and play an instrument can be in it. The orchestra, however, is by audition only and there are only a certain number of seats for each type of instrument. There are other small ensembles at her school too, though I don’t know which are by audition or if all of them are.
If there is a concert band option that doesn’t require audition, then your daughter can start in that group and work her way up through chair competitions, then maybe develop the nerve to audition for the symphonic band when she gets her legs back under her.
If she is too embarrassed to talk to the director about her solo problem, what about emailing him/her first and explaining? By breaking the ice in writing, it may be easier to go in and talk to the director face to face afterward.
My son’s school has a pep band, and it is open to anyone. At least it gets them playing, and they can show what they can do.
As for embarrassment, I think my son has some of that, or maybe it is more “if they don’t want me, then just fine, it is their loss!!!”. He can’t handle rejection at all, can’t move on. We just have to wait for him to change direction and perhaps return to the activity later.
The website says the non-audition bands are for beginners, those who are just taking their first lessons at the university. She has little patience for that. She also said since there is only one rehearsal per week, she wouldn’t feel like a part of the group. She is used to 5-6 rehearsals weekly, plus monthly festivals and concerts.
Oh @LadyArwyn I am so sorry to hear that about the non-audition bands. How discouraging for your daughter. Sure wish you could convince her to talk to the band director for another try. Maybe next semester?
DS is home for fall break. It took him 25 hours door to door since he was trapped by thunderstorms in Philly and ended up spending the night there at his grandparents and starting again this morning. After we picked him up here he said he’d been feeling sick all day and took a half hour shower and is now 2 hours into a nap. I wonder how the rest of the week will go.
I’m on fall break; here’s an update on me. I didn’t go home, but that’s okay, I have a pile of calculus homework I’ve been putting off to keep me company. Midterms are over, and I’m happy to say that I’m averaging an A in all my classes … except for calc III. I failed the first test, along with the rest of the class. It’s an odd class where you can retake the tests, so I’m not toast yet. It’s common to fail the tests in this class the first time and even multiple times and eventually score As, which I’ve heard from plenty of seniors who have had this teacher. It’s just going to be an uphill battle, but I’m making progress with it over this long weekend.
Socially things are going great, I’ve got 2 circles of friends, with some overlap. I live on one floor of the dorm and have friends there, and have also been somewhat adopted by another floor because I have several friends there. I’ve met a few people I don’t like, but so far I’ve been successful at avoiding them sufficiently.
Dorm life is okay, after the first week or so I haven’t haven’t had any issues with my suitemates and we’re all friends now, 3 of us closer than one of them, but we all get along without tearing each other’s hair out. The food quality has declined, now there’s only scrambled eggs on the weekends, but it’s still tolerable.
The rocket club is awesome!
Both my kids are home and it’s so great! What a pleasure to listen to them laugh with their younger brother while they all played Mario Smash Bros on our old GameCube. They haven’t played that for years so I guess it’s the classic yearning for childhood thing. They both seem to be happy with their first round of exams, although they were joking how now the SATs seem easy, LOL. And they are doing their own laundry 
.
D was home for the first time since mid-August for fall break. Just as it’s starting to feel like she never left, she’s heading back to school this afternoon. Sigh.
Just popping in to mention this. A lot of colleges offer scholarships to continuing students - scholarships that were not available to freshmen. And, now is the time to check what’s available at the school for the 16/17 school year. Deadlines will come up quickly (maybe even before January) and with finals and holidays coming, give your new college kids the heads-up to prep applications (LORs or work samples might be needed). Just a thought.
Happy to have D home for fall break. She has Monday and Tuesday off so doesn’t need to leave until Tuesday. We’re cooking her favorite foods, nice to have her back again and hear her chatting with S18.
My D is home for Fall Break, too. So nice to have her home.
@PhxRising - OMG on the flight delay. My D’s flight was delayed almost an hour due to the thunderstorms. Not sure what we would have done if they made her wait overnight. I’m glad your S has family to stay with.
Oh how I envy you. Ours has a break next weekend. She is going to our friends, her godparents, but I wish it was us.
Through this whole process of searching for a school, and being disappointed when he did not get into the schools he wanted to go to, I said I didn’t care if he went far away. He ended up at the school he didn’t think he wanted to go to just over an hour from home and we (and he) are so happy he did. We see him often, and he will be home this weekend into next week for his fall break. To those who are too far away to make these visits possible… Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks will be here before you know it and I hope you will get to spend some well deserved time with your kiddos!
@wrights1994 Your post is proof positive that when there are lemons to be had, as long as you have some sugar you can make the most refreshing lemonade. The twists and turns don’t always take us the way we think we want to go, and sometimes those tangents turn out the be the right path. Oh my gosh! One more cliche and I think I will make my own self sick. LOL. So great it worked out for you and your boy.
Our daughter’s college path was unexpected too and it has worked so well, we just can’t believe our good fortune.
And yes, Christmas break isn’t that far off.
S has his fall break at the end of this week and he and I will be heading down to Lexington on Fri/Sat to visit D2 at UKy, then stopping in Cincy on Sat/Sun to visit D1. He’ll never admit he misses his sisters, but I know he’ll enjoy seeing them.
Catching up a bit on the 2015ers. So funny to read about kids home for fall break. We just dropped D off across the country for the first adventure of her Gap Year. She is doing an internship through Student Conservation Association (which I highly recommend for any kids who are interested in ecology/park service/museums etc. They have a ton of interesting internships that provide housing and a stipend.) So she stayed home when everyone else took off and now she is taking off when others come home. The week before we moved our oldest to a new city as well. So we are suddenly empty nesters, at least temporarily.
Our daughter has barely started her quarter! I liked the notes from folks who have had some happiness after the disappointment of not getting what they initially had in mind. Our daughter has had some ups and downs this fall too - I do believe that often these things happen for a reason and one needs to take advantage of what is offered. Just because you don’t get what you thought you wanted, doesn’t mean option B is not also wonderful.
It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is really just around the corner!
No fall break here. Because they’re on the quarter system and classes are only 10 weeks each, there are no breaks. Even Thanksgiving is only two days off.