Day 80 - 89. What’s next?
In the past nine days a ton of new stuff has happened. I bought unlimited internet which makes my life so much more comfortable! I can videochat all I want, I even got MLB TV so I can watch and listen to Yankees games!! I am very organized with buying groceries and I have a good schedule of eating well. There are a few things I want to talk about in the past 9 days; the students here, how they interpret the West, the string program, and the future!
Before I start writing about that, I am still getting settled for Term III. I really wanted to try and get to Nairobi on the weekend, teach a cello lesson, and try and take Muay Thai lessons, but I have just been so busy! I really hope I can make it there next weekend.
The students here and how they interpret the West is tough to explain. A lot of people, not just the students, but when they see white people here they just assume they have money. Newsflash…. I DON’T HAVE MONEY!!! No I don’t live on the streets and I’m not poor, but they think I’m rich! Listen people, when I go back to the states I owe the government thousands of US dollars in college loans. The kids here think High School in the states is a breeze and all they do is have fun. WRONG. I studied a good amount, and didn’t even finish in the top half of my class! Our grading was even harder, 65 was failing.. here.. 50 is failing!! About my Form 4 students, I am definitely going to miss them when they graduate in the middle of November. A, my orchestra will suffer! And B the Form 4s are fun to talk to and teach, and I only got to teach them for about 3 and a half months.
As I tell the cello students, “You picked a good and a bad time to start cello.” Bad because our cellos are in terrible shape. Cellos are supposed to have 8 strings, between the 2 at Senior School we have 5 strings. One has no A and no C string, the other has no C and no endpin. It’s tough when we have 13 cello players at the Senior School. “You picked a good time because we’re getting a lot of new cellos!!” It’s extremely exciting! We are also in the process of getting new violins, new strings, and new bows for the program!! I also want to try and get Manhasset music stands, but I have no idea how to make that happen! Another milsestone that happened was teaching the girls at night! For those of you that aren’t familiar with what happens here at MKA, at 6:30 the girls are locked up in the dorm for the night, and the boys are on campus studying and whatnot. Because I have so many more students, and most of them are girls, I talked to the correct people, and made it possible for me to teach them one by one at night! WIN!
The future. I go on facebook a lot to see what other people are doing with their lives… and I come across my fellow college students finishing their masters, and starting their doctorates at 27!! It got me thinking long and hard last night about what I’m doing and what I want to do. After thinking for a while, I am very happy with my decision here, but it leads to the next question…. “What next??” The only thing I am bound by is my college loans and it forces me to get a job. Although, so much of me wants to go on to my masters degree and get a doctorate, but then part of me says…a doctorate is overrated!! I know there are plenty brilliant and successful people without one, and I know it’s very common for people to get higher education dregrees much later in life. I definitely need to get started on my college loans, get a teaching job, and get my masters degree soon, but again part of me wants to travel the world and teach!! We’ll see what happens, and I’ll cross that bridge when it comes, but I have a feeling it’s going to come fast, and I need to start thinking about it. At this point I want to apply to jobs all over the place, fellowships, masters programs, and then take it from there. I want to be very educated in music, teaching, and I want to become this.. SUPERTEACHER, but I have no idea how to achieve my goal. I know I both want and need to go back to school, but it would be nice to figure out the next step. Opportunity is a frightening thing. I know I have plenty of time here, and I am really excited to get this program moving. I am determined, driven, and committed to making this program strive, impress, and influence the community and the parents of all these children. I will start there, but…is it too soon to think of the next chapter?
