Hey all! Sorry it’s been so long, life’s been crazy! A few things are just now winding down, and some other things are just starting to boot up! Things around the college are starting to get really hectic, but still really fun at the same time! There so much to tell you I couldn’t possibly squeeze it into one blog, so I’ll just start at the beginning.

Just a little while ago, the College of Mount Saint Joseph had the pleasure of hosting the OPCICA music festival. OPCICA stands for Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductors Association. And the OPCICA honors band is one of the most prestigious music groups that you can hear perform. We in the Campus Concert band joined with Xavier University’s concert band, and we got to play together in the concert. We had had the honor of opening for the honor jazz band, followed by the honor concert band.

We played a twenty-minute concert which we prepared in only about three weeks of practice. And we pulled it off really well, even though we played a piece called ‘Armenian Dances’, which is remarkably different. It has a long part is in 5/4 time, which is super strange to try to count. Music is designed to work in even numbers: 2, 4, and 6. So when you try to count in 5 it messes everything up.

We played the piece very well though, and I’m glad to have had the experience! I got to stick around after we played and I got to hear the honors jazz band and concert band play. Frankly, I’ve heard national army bands and world class orchestras play, and the OPCICA bands were just as good as any of them. It was really an amazing concert. Our college president was nice enough to open the concert with a small speech, and he even stayed for the whole concert! It’s hard for a college president to dedicate that much time to any one thing, because they have so much to do. It was awesome that he was that impressed with the show that he stuck around.

This gives a lot to prove for our spring concert, but we’re ready for it! We’ve got an awesome concert coming up, and you all should come see it! We’re performing in early April, and it’s going to be a great show! Come out and see us!

I gotta run now, guys, but I’ll write again soon! For more information on OPCICA, aim your browser at http://opcica.org/ .

See you soon!

One big aspect about my life as being a student at MSJ is the fact that I am from Chicago, born and raised. Many people ask me ?WHY? Cincinnati, why the Mount, why Delhi, why Ohio??

Well my reasoning is this: I wanted to find a small school, far from home, in somewhat of a big city, with an interior design program, marching band, and learning disability. Also my mother had thought I should look in to a Catholic college. Well this is one of few schools I found on google that was applied to each of those entries.

I grew up in a very big family -> just on my mom's side i have 1 aunt and 4 uncles, I am youngest of five, one of 14 grand kids, plus there are 6 grand kids. so I am used to big numbers, also having gone to a grade school with 75 students in my graduating class. i had gone to a small high school and realized, i like small numbers, so I decided i REALLY wanted to go to a small college. I wanted to travel far away because I knew I would go home every weekend otherwise and i didn't want to do that because then i would not truly get the best dorming experience. my brother, conor, had traveled 5 hours away from home as well and it seemed like he got a great experience traveling far from home. i also knew i really wanted to stay in a city! i had looked in to other great colleges that were in smaller towns but they didn't grab me the way city life does. i needed a busy town atmosphere. i love to walk fast (coming from a chicago girl as my friends would know) and so that definitely came in to key! ever since i was a kid i've always loved decorating and organizing and arranging furniture and i was a biiiiiig fan of the interior design shows on TLC so i built up this amazing dream of being an interior designer. unfortunately it didn't work out the way i had planned when i came out here to school but then an even better dream came up as an art therapist. which you will have to check back for another blog about how that is going . for the past 4 years of my life i have fallen in love with colorguard. for any of you who have been to the football games in the last two years you have seen 2 or more girls performing with the band at half time or prepping any tailgaitors. well that was the colorguard. when i first chose the school i knew that even though they were only a marching band that i would somehow get a colorguard in that picture! one year in to my career at the Mount me and my co-captain were able to re-create the colorguard and just one year later were able to duble in size! this again is another focus area that will be blogged about later so keep reading . another big part of my life is the improvement in my ability to work around my learning disability. I have a slight form of dyslexia, reading comprehension issues, as well as a form of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). this improvement is all thanks to Project Excel, which is one of the BIGGEST reasons that i chose this school. each tutor that i have worked with has been more than amazing in helping me with my classes, time management, and well EVERYTHING! its truly been incredible!

 But why would i leave Chicago for that? because while Chicago really is the best city for me, it doesn't have the Mount!!!

 thanks again for reading and keep checking out my page for updates

 

SOME OF MY PHOTOGRAPHY OF MY TWO FAVORITE CITIES:

 

Buckingham Fountain - my favorite place in the entire world!

Lake Michigan - The best summer feeling is riding my bike along this lake!

Millenium Park - This is one of the several parts of Millenium Park. I love the architecture!

 

A couple views of the Ohio River from Eden Park

The most beautiful thing I have ever seen in Cincinnati - Eden Park.