Category: Music

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Campus Club Spotlight: Scherzo!

On Friday September 13th, the Grove City College men’s vocal ensemble Scherzo! (formerly the Men’s Glee Club) had their second set of open auditions for anyone interested in becoming a member of the club. After holding a handful of open rehearsals, bringing in eight for auditions, Scherzo! accepted four new members joining the club.

What does this year look like for “Scherzo!“?

Beginning the year with a new name and a new group of singers, there are many changes in store for the club and their upcoming repertoire of performances. Making an effort to move away from a number of their expected gigs, the group will be taking on performances in all new venues and organizations around the Grove City community with a plethora of new pieces guaranteed to represent the fresh start the group is undergoing.

What led the group to change their name?

The decision for the name change was long discussed within the group due to the normal connotation of the name Glee Club with the popular show “Glee,” which aired on FOX television. The group decided it would be best for their vocal ensemble not to be directly compared to the TV series due to very different approaches to what an acapella group looks like, as well as the various drama which the show dealt with. Scherzo! is an acapella group mainly focusing on the quality and range which a group of male singers can produce when solely focusing on the music itself, where the TV series is much more focused on the production as well as vocals. Seeing that Scherzo! is not a production centered group, they came to the conclusion that the best thing to do to help public perception of what the group truly is, would be to change up the name to something more intriguing and less correlated with a widely known series.

Scherzo! will hold their annual concert, containing their whole repertoire of music, in May 2020.

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Inside the Life of a Grove City College Tour Guide

As a tour guide here at Grove City, I am presented with the unique opportunity of working with the College’s Admissions staff on a regular basis. However, the most exciting aspect of being a Grove City College Student Ambassador is meeting and interacting with prospective students every week. It gives me a chance to share some of my wonderful experiences with others who are interested in Grove City.

Tour guides have anything but routine weeks. Each guide has a designated day and time in which they will give a tour once a week to prospective students and their parents. However, Grove City also offers a plethora of event days for students who are interested in a more specialized campus experience. The Admissions Office offers days like Senior Crimson Day, which is specifically for seniors who have expressed interest in Grove City but who may be interested in giving the school one last look before applying. We also offer more specialized days like Music Major Day and Hopeman School Discovery Day. These two events allow students who are interested in more specialized majors to talk with staff, and experience what an average day looks like for a student in that field of study.

This past week, the Admissions team worked tirelessly to put on Music Major Day on Monday, and then organized hosted Hopeman School Discovery Day on Saturday. Tour guides of the school have the distinct responsibility of interacting with prospective students and their families on all of these special event days. The other tour guides and I helped to give our guests a well-rounded view of what life on our campus is like. We did this by not only giving tours of campus, but also by facilitating meetings with department heads and helping the other events of the day to run smoothly. With several more Admission event days to come, every tour guide on campus will continue to work hard on perfecting their craft.

The Admissions staff is always looking for more tour guides who have their own unique skills and stories that will benefit the schools search for students. The tour guides on campus are enthusiastic students and we all love what we do. We all hope that we are able to make a positive impact on prospective students’ college searches.

To see what other event days Grove City has this year, click on the link: http://www.gcc.edu/Info/Events-News/Admissions-Events/Open-Houses

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Reel Life at Grove City College: Music Resources for All Majors

When I was looking at colleges, I expected to be either a business major or a computer science major. Now, I am an entrepreneurship major with a computer science minor – a perfect fit for me. But one thing plagued me about both options: I love music, and neither business nor computer science have much to say about music technique or theory.

In two ways, Grove City College made it possible for me to work with music in my daily life without needing to major or minor in any musical field.

First, it requires all students to take a certain number of humanities classes, and in multiple of mine, I have gotten to work with and listen to music.

Second – and the topic I want to talk about in today’s video – Grove City provides a whole host of music resources to all students in its building called PEW (J. Howard Pew Fine Arts Center).

In this episode of Reel Life, I vlog about a few stand-out resources PEW has to offer for non-music majors.

 

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The Future of the Music Business Program

Four years ago, I came to Grove City College as a music business major and after one semester, I switched to the Department of Entrepreneurship. For me, it was a great switch. I have really thrived in the entrepreneurship program here. However, my original reason for switching was not because I had dreams of starting my own business one day, it was because the music business program was lacking. I would learn a lot of great things about music and learn a good bit about business but there did not seem to be any classes to help me learn about the music industry itself. As it turns out, I was not the only one who noticed this issue. But the difference between me and Cedric Lewis is that he actually planned on doing something about it.
 
Professor Lewis is an entertainment attorney from Florida who taught music business at Full Sail University. He came to Grove City five years ago and has been teaching at the College ever since. He came to teach a business law class and in his second year here, he discovered that we had a music business major. He did some research and discovered it was not very industry specific. Once word got around that he was an entertainment attorney, students began to think he was here to revamp the program. That expectation began to become a reality and that year, he gave the College a proposal to revamp the whole program but it was too extensive. So he started small with an intro to the business of music class and still has a plan to rebuild the program to better fit his original plan. He added a second class, music marketing, last year for juniors and seniors. Because it is Grove City, he gets to focus on the music industry as well as the Christian music industry. He has a desire to build true Christians up to go into a tough and sometimes dark industry; working with labels in marketing, accounting, administration and more.
 
Even though professor Lewis has been largely successful in his goals with the program thus far, he has faced a few setbacks. Getting the word out for his new classes has been difficult. Grove City College has a huge network of alumni that are in the industry. Getting in touch with those alumni has helped but the current students need to learn more about it. As the program gains traction and more students begin taking these classes, this problem should wane.
 
Professor Lewis still wants to add a class to teach music software like Protools and Logic, a critical listening class to help students develop an ear for different types and styles of music, and a class to learn other industry related topics such as event planning or video production. When asked about expanding the program, he responded by saying, “the wonderful thing about Grovers is that you’re resilient and hard workers so I can expand the program faster than expected.” He wants music business majors to graduate being proud of their degree and has high hopes for the future of the music business program.
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Stairwell Concert featuring Jackson Clemmer and Julia Knepper

If you are ever looking for something to do on campus and you are musically talented, the stairwell in the Physical Learning Center is a place with great acoustics on campus. Ever since I was a freshman, I have always enjoyed listening to my friends play guitar or sing in the stairwell, whether it was just for fun, or if it was an event they put on. Often times during the week leading up to finals, there will be an hour-long concert held in the stairwell famously named the “Stairwell Sessions,” and students can perform during that time. More recently this semester, Jackson Clemmer and Julia Knepper put together a concert in the stairwell. The concert had a great turnout, as the stairwell was completely full, due to the Facebook Group they created to get the word out.

After speaking with Jackson and Julia, they both had a great time performing for others on campus. Julia said, “I loved the idea of collaborating with another songwriter and musician and creating a more intimate environment for people to come hear some good music.” Both of the musicians played their own original pieces, and it was a great way for others to hear their songs. Jackson stated, “My hope for the show was to create an environment where I could put my original music in front of people who were ready and excited to listen. Most of the songs I had never played for more than a couple people, so it was really exciting to get feedback from a larger audience.”

See the above video for a short clip of Julia’s song “Talk.” Jackson and Julia will be performing another concert on March 24th at Collage Coffee and Art House located on Broad Street in downtown Grove City.

Image captured by Andrew Stein
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Student Spotlight: Worship Leader at Grove City College

Grace DeMember playing guitar and singing

Many students who attend Grove City College are musically gifted. This unique campus trend was something I noticed very early on in my time at the College. Because of the wide variety of organizations and events, there are many opportunities for students to engage in worship. Students who wish to take a leadership position often hope to take a role as a worship leader. The College’s worship leaders are students who excel musically, and have a strong desire to spiritually support others.

I have been close friends with Grace DeMember since the beginning of my time here. She has been leading worship since her freshman year, when she was part of a chapel worship team. As a senior, Grace is now a worship leader on a handful of teams including chapel worship, Young Life and Warriors. Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down and hearing about her experience as a worship leader at Grove City College. Grace is obviously very passionate about leading worship and it was humbling to hear her perspective. I hope that if you are interested participating in worship at Grove City College, her responses will be beneficial and applicable to you.

How did you first get involved in leading worship?

My parents both led worship at the church we went to when I was little and I grew up pretty immersed in worship music. We had band practice at our house, and my brothers and I loved listening to them play. They often practiced right after we went to bed (they had a full band, so I’m not sure how my parents expected us to actually go to sleep) and one of my brothers and I used to sneak downstairs and watch during their practice. Sometimes they would catch us and let us come mess around on the instruments. It was so much fun. Some of my favorite people were in that worship band and I looked up to them from a very young age.

I grew up seeing so many people I loved and admired leading worship onstage, and I wanted to learn guitar so that I could play and sing at church. When I was in 7th grade, my dad started teaching guitar to a couple people in our youth group with the intent of preparing us to lead worship for our peers. There were a couple of leaders in my youth group who saw a lot of potential in me and encouraged me to really pursue leading worship. They gave me opportunities to play and sing with the youth band pretty early on (they had a much better high school student playing with me so I could learn from her) and I learned pretty quickly. For a period of time, I alternated between singing and playing guitar, but eventually I was able to do them both together. I had a piano background as well and started playing keys and singing some weeks.

What skills are necessary to lead worship?

First of all, you have to have a personal relationship with Jesus and want to serve Him; your heart needs to be in it. Secondly, you have to be musically solid enough to actually worship and lead others into that experience. If you’re too caught up in what chords you’re playing, you won’t be able to enter into that sacred time with the Lord. Also, if you’re making a lot of mistakes, it’s incredibly distracting to people who are really trying to worship. It also helps to have experience being in charge of a group of people. You have to be confident in what you’re doing for people to really respect you and buy into what you’re doing.

What challenges do you face as a worship leader?

Pride – wanting the glory of singing/playing in front of hundreds of people for myself instead of giving it to God.

Having to hold “auditions” – it’s hard to tell someone that they’re not the right fit for a group of people who are serving God.

Getting so caught up in “performing” well that I forget about the reason I’m singing/playing.

How have you seen yourself grow or change because of your experience as a worship leader?

I have grown so much in my relationship with the Lord through leading worship. It has been so cool to have such a practical and tangible way to use my gifts and talents to both glorify God and serve others. I have also learned so much about putting my identity solely in Him and not in what others think of me, or even in what I think of myself. Leading worship has also given me so many opportunities to grow as a leader of people, and I am so appreciative for that.

Does your role change based on what organization or team you lead for?

Honestly, the heart and purpose of it isn’t all that different from group to group. As a worship leader, my job is to provide an opportunity for people to encounter the Lord through music, and that purpose is the same for every team I have led. The size of the congregation/group, skill level of the team, sound of the team (acoustic vs. full band), and age of the team obviously changes from group to group, but my role mostly stays the same. There are times when my job is more to mentor and help younger worship leaders as opposed to leading a team myself, my even then, my job is to lead them into a time of encountering the Lord.

What suggestions do you have for students who aspire to lead worship in any manner at Grove City College?

I would say to simply look for opportunities to get involved. Freshman chapel worship is how I got started with the Grove City community, and once other people knew that I had experience leading worship, I got asked to lead for other groups as well. I would also introduce yourself to current members of a team you might want to be on because people are always graduating and moving on and teams are often looking to replace people.

What is your favorite part of being a worship leader?

I love music, and I love that leading worship is an opportunity to glorify God with the gifts He has given me. I especially love getting the opportunity to enable lots of people to have an intimate experience with God. Corporate singing is so powerful, and it always amazes me that God would choose me to be a leader of something that significant.

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So You Want to Join the Marching Band

If you happen to be registered for a class called MUSI 100: Band this fall, then your first week on campus is guaranteed to be wildly different than everyone else’s. It varies a little depending on if you are a percussionist, an auxiliary member, or an officer, but it’s always a memorable week for everyone. I want to share my annual marching band experience from the perspective of a bell player on the drumline.

Move-In Day

Your first move-in day: your first real day of your college experience and possibly one of the most terrifying days of your whole life. I’m not going to tell you that mine wasn’t bittersweet, but something happens when you arrive that makes you focus more on what’s ahead than what you feel like you’re leaving behind. For percussionists, it’s a day jam-packed with driving, getting your room key, mail key, and ID card, unpacking, frantically trying to get organized, and running off to Pew to see why the band director possibly needed you two days before the rest of the band arrives. (Side note: if you do move in on Wednesday as a percussionist or band officer, they don’t feed you lunch. Make sure to bring either food or money to grab fast food in town.)

A more important side note: The College is known for having Orientation Board, or OB, help freshmen move their things from their cars to their dorms, but it is also known that band students do not get this luxury. Fortunately for freshmen starting in 2017, the band has developed its very own Band Orientation Board, or BOB! You can expect members of BOB to help you as you arrive for your first day of band camp.

When you do arrive in Pew, it seems intimidating at first. The drumline is instructed to meet in the Little Theater, which is a small black box theater in the bottom corner of Pew Fine Arts Center. (Don’t worry, there will be signs in Pew and people who can tell you how to get there). Once you get there, you’ll be bombarded with new faces; there are generally around 20 people in the drumline, as well as our instructor/hero, Mr. RJ Heid. The drumline always consists of a mixture of new students and “veterans,” or students who have been in drumline before. The new students are generally a mixture of freshmen and upperclassmen music majors who have to take one semester of marching band. After you arrive, you are soon sent out into the hall while Mr. Heid hears everyone play in order to determine who plays snare, who plays bass, who plays tenors, who plays cymbals, and who plays mallets. If you play mallets here for multiple years like my section-mates and I have, eventually he stops testing you when you arrive and he just assigns you to mallets, no questions asked.

Percussion Camp

I affectionately refer to the nine-hour-long pre-band-camp intensive drumline rehearsals from Wednesday to Friday as Percussion Camp. Being the backbone of the band and providing necessary rhythm for each piece, the drumline has to have a solid basic understanding of each piece before the woodwinds and brass even arrive. Even though it’s draining, this is the time when members of the drumline first bond. We eat together in between rehearsals, get a pizza party after rehearsals, and on Thursday afternoon, we take time from rehearsal to actually introduce ourselves in an environment that has ceased to intimidate us.

Band Camp

After percussion camp “ends” (it never completely ends; the drumline still spends a lot of time perfecting pieces in the Little Theater while the band rehearses on stage) and the band arrives on Friday, we all get welcomed with a hamburger-and-hotdog picnic outside of Hicks Dining Hall. On different years, this has been followed by different things. During my first two years, we met on stage to start sightreading music on Friday night, but last fall, we went out to the marching field for the first time. I think it depends mostly on the weather.

Saturday is the first day of full band camp. That’s right, out in the sun, with your bells and harness on, learning the drill, learning the music, and getting that nice socktan that everyone loves. When I’m still struggling to learn the music, I can’t imagine how I will be able to play it and march at the same time, but once the time to multitask comes, it’s all just second nature, and I find it to be less stressful than the days in the Little Theater.

On the final night of band camp, we all go down to the actual football stadium (as opposed to the band practice field) and run through the show in its entirety. Parents and friends are invited to come see how our hard work has paid off. After this final rehearsal ends, the band holds a talent show in Pew’s Ketler Auditorium as a time to just relax, have fun, and see what your peers can do other than march, play, and be exhausted. It’s quite impressive.

Kennywood, Freshman Convocation, and On With Our Lives

Another time that we get a break from band camp is when we take a trip to Kennywood for a day. We still typically practice on the field before lunch, but we spend the afternoon and evening riding rides and marching in a short parade.

The one final push between band camp and the start of classes happens on Thursday morning (one week after Percussion Camp). First, we all gather in Pew in our uniforms, line up by height, and get our picture taken out on the steps. Afterwards, we march over to the Wolverina in the Physical Learning Center to play for the Freshman Convocation. When I was a freshman, and I had to play to welcome my fellow freshman, I already felt as though I’d been at school forever, and that I was welcoming them to my new home. It’s hard not to think, “I didn’t get a long, sappy welcome speech when I arrived. I just had to go play!” but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Forefront: In Faith We Create

18238922_1320117271411861_5427032072239208109_oRecently, creatively-minded Christians have produced art that, while not intentionally bad, speaks only to the redeemed. This movement has managed to appeal to Christians but has altogether remained unappealing to those who do not feel welcome to the church. This does not mean the art is bad; again, I think it has tremendous value to those already in the church. However, this type of art has only a certain market it can reach.

Two Grove City College alumni realized this, and in 2015 Nate Mancini ’13 and Johnny Sikma ’13 sought to reach out to the community of Christians in the arts. They created a festival geared toward faith-driven artists called the Forefront Festival. The end goal was to bring together Christ-followers who are passionately pursuing the arts and offer them an encouragement to strive for excellence while still being accessible to those outside of the faith community. The result of their efforts was an event that produced worthwhile art while not pandering to a faith-based market.

“We wanted Christians to return to the forefront of the arts — to be the kind of people who shape culture and start art movements — so Forefront Festival seemed an appropriate name,” says Mancini. You look at many of the art movements of yesteryear, and there is a distinguishable pattern of strong Christians striving towards a universally recognizable standard.

I had the privilege of attending the first festival, and I can attest to the caliber of excellence. Photographers, authors, painters, dancers, and critics alike came together to discuss the profound impact their faith had on their work, be it explicitly faith-based or not. Nate and 18209056_1320754578014797_2428433757382773533_oJohnny premiered a film that they co-wrote and produced, not about a Christian’s struggles, but about a human’s struggles. Despite the lack of “I am a Christian” message, it still spoke to the need of a greater fulfillment and purpose that Christians only truly find in their relationship with God and, as artists, in displaying his truths.

Not long after the first festival, Nate approached Rich Christman ’14, and the event began to form into a second incarnation. Johnny moved to Los Angeles, and Nate “asked [Rich] if [he] would like to come as his partner in Johnny’s place.” Rich said of course, and they quickly began to form a greater vision. They didn’t just want events to be the premier resource Forefront had to offer, but the people who would attend the events. They created an online platform for Christians in the arts to connect and collaborate.

Sadly I wasn’t able to attend Forefront ’17, but they upgraded the experience significantly. Not only was there a festival to exhibit artists, 18216787_1321083947981860_8383942365351858937_obut also a conference to host lecturers (primarily the featured artists) to discuss their craft, be it directly related to their faith or not. While Forefront ’15 feature Pittsburgh-based artists and favors from friends, Forefront ’17 featured “artists from six different states… as well as two different countries,” including a TED Fellow.

Forefront has grown significantly, with a drive not only to promote the creators, but rather the creatives. Who knows what the next Forefront may hold? Maybe you could be a part of it.

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Student Artist Survey: From the Hollow

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From the Hollow, a singer-songwriter duo, began at Grove City College when Christie Goodwin was asked to perform at Bridgefest – a concert on campus featuring student musicians.

Goodwin is a senior majoring in English Secondary Education from Farmington Hills, Mich. and has been dabbling in art and music for many years. She did not start to sing and write music seriously, however, until her sophomore year in college.

Originally, Goodwin planned to perform at Bridgefest alone, but as the performance day approached, she faced a dilemma. “I realized that I was not going to make it by myself,” says Goodwin. “My music needed to be filled out, and I needed someone more confident than me, so I emailed Corey because we performed together at AEX Live.”

Corey Kerstetter, a sophomore Marketing Management major with a minor in Biology, hails from Lancaster, Pa. He played piano since second grade, bass and guitar since high school, and is currently teaching himself banjo.

Goodwin continues, “We played together at Bridgefest, and after that people responded really well to our music. So we kept playing.”

Together, they formed From the Hollow.

On Feb. 1, 2017 they released their first EP called American Strife.

One of the most powerful songs in the EP is also called American Strife with lyrics as follows:

Baby cries, no one hears
And you regret the last six years
And move away from here
Throw out your line but nothing bites
Maybe that’s a woman’s right
This is our American
American Strife

Goodwin wrote this song at 1 am. “The phrases really fit together for me,” she says, “There’s a sense of hope and also disappointment.”

While they are both songwriters, the songs on their first EP were all written by Goodwin. Kerstetter has written a few songs recently as well.

“Her lyrics convey her message very clearly and powerfully.” Kerstetter reflects, “When we played at Bridgefest, I actually started crying in the middle of it.”

The music these student artists created is hauntingly beautiful and full of meaning. Concerning music itself, Goodwin says, “I want to write music that has a meaningful story. For other people, it becomes a fame thing. To me, music is storytelling. Music should tell a story.”

Both Goodwin and Kerstetter agree that the Grove City College community has supported and encouraged their music. They appreciate the natural music culture on campus, especially highlighting Stonebridge – a student organization which does a lot to bring music on campus and feature student musicians.

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Putting the Professors in the Hot Seat

When you come to visit Grove City College, you may meet some wonderful people who say they will be there for you for the duration of your studies at Grove City College – and they are not kidding. They will tell you they are here to make sure you grow as an individual in both your spiritual and academic life. They will tell you all the cool things you have the opportunity to learn about and they will say they have been praying for you. Who are these people? None other than the professors.

To better explain why these professors are so fantastic, I have critically reviewed some I have had over the years to show you how each one is different and challenging, but always acting with your best interest in mind. Warning: this is going to be a long post.

Hot Seat #1: Dr. Messer – English

My first experience with Dr. Messer started at 9 a.m. on the first day of classes. Side note, Dr. Messer is the head of the English Department and winner of the Professor of the Year Award in 2015 (intimidating). I was in the required Writing 101 class all freshmen have to take, and I was extremely nervous to be in my first college class AND have it be a subject I am not the best at. Dr. Messer seemed pretty cool in his introduction of himself in front of all 13 IMG_0971(2)students, but what got me was he said it was required for all of us come to his office for 15 minutes before the week was over. I thought that was a little weird and out of my way – why would a professor want to see his students so early in the semester? Oh, little naive me. Upon meeting Dr. Messer in person in his office, I came to realize he requested those 15 minutes because he wanted to know who I was so he could better understand why my writing and class performance was the way it was.

The remainder of the semester I was continually impressed by Dr. Messer. Since he had met me before and knew a little bit more about my hometown and family, I felt extremely comfortable going back during his office hours to ask more questions. I knew I was not the strongest writer, and I blatantly said that during my meeting – so it was no surprise when I knocked on his door two weeks later asking for help on my persuasive essay. It is hard to put into words how helpful Dr. Messer was in a class I felt extremely like a fish out of water in. The best part about him as an instructor was he knew his faults. This was his first semester teaching Writing 101 so he was honest with us and said, “I am new to this too.” One of our assignments entailed writing on a topic within our major of study using library book resources. Do you know how many books are written by entrepreneurs? Not very many. As an Entrepreneurship major, this task was difficult so I said to him one class, “What would you like me to do? There are no entrepreneurship encyclopedias to look at.” He accommodated yet challenged me by saying, “Base your research on what you can find, but I have never studied entrepreneurship so impress me.” I did.

To this day, I see Dr. Messer around and he always says hi to me and asks me how I am doing – he still remembers my name a year and a half later.

Hot Seat #2: Professor English – Entrepreneurship

I met Yvonne English on Junior Crimson day a long time ago when the academic departments had open houses. I already knew I wanted to be an Entrepreneurship major but I had no idea what kind of academics that involved or what kind of professors I would have to deal with. I walked into the Entrepreneurship suite and my dad (to this day) said my face lit up. I was star-struck and high on cloud nine. What brought me back down to the real world was IMG_0957Professor English. She warmly welcomed me, offered me a free t-shirt (bonus!), and asked me my name, why I was into entrepreneurship, and all that typical small talk. Once she started explaining the program, she sold me on Grove City.

Fast forward to today, Professor English and I are buddies. I have had several classes with her and in each one she pushes me a little bit further outside of my comfort zone. She in no way, shape, or form babies her students. As Entrepreneurship majors, we have to know the material because it is real life, and if we fail on an idea in the real world there is no professor to hug us and say we can have a curve on our grade. Professor English takes tough love to a whole new level because she wants her students to succeed. Before she was a professor, English worked with several startups and accelerators so the topics she is teaching us in class she knows from experience.

I always go say good morning to her in her office – I feel like the day is not complete until I see her. This past semester I had another professor in a generic, required course that was really pushing my buttons and I would tell English about him when I would visit her. One morning, this professor and I just had a breaking point. I acted disrespectfully towards him and felt very bad about it, but did not know what to do. So when I wandered into English’s office I told her what was going on, and honestly, shed a tear or two because I was so upset at what happened. She handed me a tissue box and said, “I will help you write your apology email.”

I have stories upon stories of the nice things English has done for me (like buying me donuts or taking me to Rome in the summer) but that would be an entire blog post in and of itself.

Hot Seat #3: Dr. Tedford – Orchestra

My sister, Maddie, graduated last May as an early education major and during her time on campus she was the principle cellist of the orchestra. I met Dr. Tedford through Maddie. I was a timpanist (the big drums in the back of the orchestra) for all four years of high school and Maddie wanted me to play with her so she introduced me to Dr. IMG_0279Tedford in hopes he would win me over. But I am stubborn and refused to join. The story does not end there, Maddie and her roommate, Abby, were babysitters for Dr. Tedford’s two (now three) little kids. Naturally, the two got attached and Dr. Tedford created a strong bond with Maddie and Abby. So strong, in fact, when Maddie comes up to the area now to visit her boyfriend she will stay in the Tedford home. Whether they are there or not they always welcome Maddie for a visit.

What does this have to do with me? Maddie, naturally, would talk about me with Dr. Tedford and the subject of my photography came up in conversation. Dr. Tedford at the time was looking for a photographer to take photos of the orchestra so he emailed me asking if I was available for about an hour to take photos of the orchestra. I, of course, accepted. As time passed and he continued to ask me to take pictures he was so impressed with my work he hired me as the music department photographer for the band and orchestra. I have a special place in my heart for the orchestra because of Maddie and my past life as a timpanist so I have had an absolute blast being Dr. Tedford’s music photographer.

Maybe other school’s music conductors would do the same sort of thing to hire a student as a photographer – but Dr. Tedford is different. Every time I see him during rehearsal, he asks me how Maddie is doing, how my parents are, and if I am ready to listen to some music. The established relationship makes my job even better.

I believe majority of what makes my college experience great is the people I have come to know and love. These “people” include the amazing professors who have taken me under their wing and make it their goal to help me grow as a student.