Advice to Freshman Music Education Majors
- Serena Gorham
- Jun 21, 2018
- 2 min read
Summer is in full swing, and many incoming freshman music education majors are currently, or have recently graduated high-school. To all of you, congratulations! Here are some tips that I would tell my freshman self, if I had the chance to!
1. Do not let your high-school relationship hold you back
I was in a relationship when I first came to college, and looking back, I could have saved myself a lot of issues had I ended that relationship earlier. I went from being homeschooled, to going to a college where I knew literally no-one. I felt so alone and scared, and I held onto a relationship I knew was dead, and had no chance of revival. Don't let it hold you back!
2. Keep skipping the parties.
This is easy for me to say, I don't party and I frankly hate the taste of alcohol and am deathly afraid of drugs. I say skip the parties because the culture is not, "what it used to be." Parties, from what I hear from my friends, are gross, and the overall scene is not, "future employer friendly." My advisor says if even one picture of you winds up online of you in the midst of a drunken time, employers might overlook you in this field.
3. Don't fool yourself
It is so easy to fool yourself into thinking that you practice or study more than you do. Set a timer and be real with yourself!
4. Learn how to practice NOW!
It took me until late in my first year to figure out what the hell I was doing wrong with my practicing. I was not mindfully practicing, I was constantly on auto-pilot in the practice room. Once I gathered up the courage to read into what I was doing wrong, rather than continue to suffer 3 hours per day by not exercising good practice habits, my strength on the instrument grew tremendously!
5. You do not have to be friends with everyone in your major
It is good to be friendly, and hang out with everyone, but you do not need to be besties with every single person in your major! There are many personalities getting together for music education this fall, and I hope you are able to make many friends in your major, but it is okay if you aren't close with everyone
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