<p>I agree Karen’s blog is great, but don’t you think it just a bit too soon to suggest to those who just submitted their pre-screens to read “I Flunked My Pre-Screens: Now what?” Come on…let’s spread a bit of optimism! Let them ride the bubble of hope for just a little while.</p>
<p>My fault. I suggested it be posted as a separate thread with this title, but did not know how. The thread title refers to the blog article title posted in another thread. </p>
<p>For some, this line of thought is very comforting, but they would have to read the blog to see that. In our family, we always deal with worst case scenarios. We would rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. It’s kind of like that glass half full or empty thing: a matter of personality.</p>
<p>Anyway, apologies if anyone is upset by that. The implication should not be that failure is likely, only that it may be more possible to relax while waiting for success, knowing some of the other options.</p>
<p>No apologies needed compmom. We also encourage Plan B’s and being prepared for disappointment in our family, while continuing to hope for the best. I was just questioning the timing and wording of the post. It kind of felt like nervously sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, wondering what some symptoms might mean, and being handed a list of treatment options and prognosis outcomes by the nurse before the doctor even sees you. I am the kind who would prefer to hear the diagnosis first.</p>
<p>Sorry, guys. Didn’t mean to add extra anxiety. My own style is to start preparing for alternatives in case things don’t work out the way I hope. Sort of like emergency planning. Hoping I’ll be able to shift quickly and easily to another mode, if necessary.</p>
<p>And these posts of Karen Riles are always light and breezy, and comforting.</p>
<p>ps Spirit Manager posted this under the very positive title “Wonderful Blog about the Life of a Young Musician (and Parents”. I posted this:</p>
<p>"Can this be reposted in a new thread entitled “What if you flunk your prescreens,” or something like that? The gist of this blog entry closes mirrors some private conversations we have all had and might help someone who is feeling that disaster looms…and needs to know there are no disasters! " The reason for this request was that there were questions about how to post the link, and I had no idea myself how to do it.</p>
<p>In retrospect, not a good idea. The wording was a slightly altered version of the blog title. Didn’t give it enough thought.</p>
<p>I am dealing with a pessimist applicant, here at home, who responds to these kinds of what if’s. But the word “flunk” certainly would be a trigger!</p>
<p>Well, I think we should just blame Karen–she came up with the title! (Sorry, Karen). I would actually prefer the gentler “didn’t pass prescreening round” or “was not invited to auditions” rather than ‘flunk’–it has too many connotations of ‘failure’. But, I did read the previous thread so I understand the reason behind this thread.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with the word flunk? There are times in life you’re just not successful, no matter which way you say it. The music world isn’t all that gentle.</p>
<p>Well, bigdjp, I suppose there isn’t anything wrong with the word ‘flunk’ if it is deserved–if it is comparable to receiving a ‘F’ in a course, yes, that would be flunking. But if one is auditioning along with equally highly skilled musicians for that one orchestra spot, or if one is auditioning with other equally highly skilled musicians for the 1-2 available spots in a university studio and you don’t get it–would you still use that word? You “flunked” the audition? Maybe only if the performer really just did a terrible job–then perhaps that would be a ‘flunking’ audition. Yes, the music world isn’t all that gentle–I totally agree! It’s a very competitive world–speaking from experience here. But I think using the word ‘flunk’ to describe an audition (that might have been excellent but someone else was chosen) is just not accurate. But, that’s just my opinion. We can agree to disagree.</p>
<p>Oh, well, I’ll just take the blame since it was me who got this conversation started! It was really done with tongue-in-cheek mostly anyway! I was just envisioning a poor student completing their application, clicking on “Submit” and suddenly having a screen pop up saying “You Flunked Your Pre-screen-Now What?!” Sort of like when you click to see if you’ve won something and it says “Sorry, you’re not a winner this time!” But, haha! maybe that would be easier than the 2-4 anxious weeks of waiting!</p>
(Sorry, Karen). I would actually prefer the gentler “didn’t pass prescreening round” or “was not invited to auditions” rather than ‘flunk’–it has too many connotations of ‘failure’. But, I did read the previous thread so I understand the reason behind this thread.</p>