I've had a lot I need to think about these past few days and I'm not much closer to coming to a definitive answer. I had my advising meeting last Thursday and found out that one of the courses that is required for my degree isn't offered until the summer of 2016. That's the year I plan to graduate. I've been trying to find a time to sit with my adviser to ask more about this but her schedule has been pretty busy as of late, but it's my top priority to understand how that's going to work out. Also, I'm taking two courses this summer. It's also part of my degree and it's required and it's all about research. Using APA formats, correctly citing sources, and a whole lot of other things. It might be offered online, but the teacher has told us to be ready to meet in person, so whenever I land a job I'm keeping that in mind. The job hunt hasn't been successful, but I'm still looking for a summer job and one to carry over into the next semester. Which brings me to the main point of this blog. Student teaching. I have to make my decision on this soon, but I'm really worried about it. It really hit home for me on Monday during a presentation I had about Assessing Musical Behaviors, and the types of tests teachers and students take that brought up a discussion of the Praxis II and how hard it is for the seven people also working towards getting this degree to pass. And if you don't pass it, you can't student teach, which then means you can't graduate. Some people have been stuck at this phase for a while. The two-three classmates I talk to the most who are going through it right now have been taking the test 2-3 times so far and keep missing the passing marks by one point. And I haven't even passed the Praxis I yet. I've taken it twice and have missed it both times. Although now, they don't have the Praxis I, they have what is called the Praxis Core, but I've heard people say that test is hard as well. Not only do I have to take both Praxis tests, but I have to take an additional test as part of this side program to get my teaching certificate. I'm worried I wont pass any of it and I'll be stuck trying to get it for a while/long than I had initially planned. Like I said in my last blog post, music therapy had sparked my interest, but I can't do that as I don't have an undergraduate degree in music therapy (which is ok, because at minimum I can have a bachelors in music) but then I'm not currently enrolled in a program for music therapy and pass a board exam and...you can read all about that here. So, at this point in time, I'm getting worried about making big decisions about what I'm going to be doing in the near future. Will it affect how long I'm in school? When I graduate? And on top of all of that I have so many papers and exams to prepare for. Such is the life of a grad student. I know it'll all work out eventually, it's just taking that first step that's hard to do. -MJ I've had this song stuck in my head today.
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Purple. Drums. Music. Disney. 90s. FRIENDS. Harry Potter. Skittles. Peanut Butter Cups. Archives
April 2015
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