Roller Coaster

So lately my life has been really hectic. Funny how that happens. Like, for a few months, my life is SO BORING and nothing new happens. Then all of a sudden.....KABAM! I get whapped in the face with extreme busyness. So, as you all know, I got rejected from Colburn. So, the next step was to apply somewhere else. So, I applied to Oberlin, the Conservatory that I've REALLY wanted to apply to all along. So, a week after my Colburn rejection (and like 4 days after completing my application), my parents and I went to Oberlin for an audition. Regardless of what happens, it's really a miracle that I was able to apply and audition. The deadline to submit the Oberlin application was December 1,2008. On top of that, all of the live auditions were said to be full, so no more live auditions could be scheduled. Yet, the Dean gave me permission to apply AND schedule a live audition. And it was really nice because once I got there, before I went into my audition, he gave me a hug and said that he hopes I can make it in. And all of the people there were really really nice. They tried to make the audition experience enjoyable and not nervewracking. I'm not sure what the audition commitee was looking for....or exactly how my audition went (I did the audition a day after getting sick...fever and all, so I had 2 doses of NyQuil the day before my audition, and the symptoms of a cold....and I ended up getting some arm muscle strain that felt like tendinitis a few days before the audition), but because of all of the hurdles that I had to jump to do the audition, it's a blessing and a miracle that I was allowed to do it. I should find out by the end of this month whether or not I was accepted.And then I'm also going to be applying to the Chicago College of Performing Arts. And I've already applied to Swarthmore and Westminster Choir College, so if all of those fall through, or if for some reason I decide not to go to one of those colleges, then I'll probably apply to the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico. I know, random universities, right,lol? But I think that it'd be awesome to be in a really warm climate with tons of diversity. There's something that's really cool to me about meeting people from all over the world like I did at Interlochen and Eastman. It just reminds me that the US isn't all that exists in the world, and it's so easy to get caught up in the American comfort zone and forget that there are billions of other people out there who have our same interests and life goals. And it's REALLY neat to meet other Christians from other places around the world. Anyway, yesterday I ended up failing my road test for driver's ed. But oh well. So tis life I guess. I also had another Master Class. That was fun, but I definitely didn't do half as good as I could have, so that was discouraging. And I had a piano competition last weekend. I did make it to finals (PRAISE THE LORD!), which means that out of all of the competitors from 9-12th grade who competed in the Young Artist competition all around Minnesota (and possibly a few kids from North/South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin who have teachers who live in Minnesota and are memebers of MMTA), I was in the top twelve! So I was really thankful for that because this year has been somewhat discouraging with piano. And I get to play Dvorak's Slavonic Dance No. 6 at an Honor's Concert at Northrop Auditorium @ the U of Minnesota at the end of May (and I get to wear a formal evening gown too!!!!)! The Lord can encourage even in the midst of discouragement. Well, I better get back on recording my pieces for Chicago's audition. Later,
Rachel