A Farewell to Boston

Life is full of surprises. This adage never ceases to (ironically) surprise me. Graduation was a whirlwind, but while impromptu, it truly was a beautiful ceremony. Each fellow gave their own unique presentation. Personally, two first things occurred. One was the minority played music and in that music was myself. I don't say this to sound arrogant, but rather as a new moment of self-awareness. Performance has never been something I will willingly do. I usually acquiesce requests when people ask me to accompany or play something with them, but rarely is it my idea. While this still was at the request of my wonderful friend/fellow Monique, it made me realize how important performance is to me. It's just not that in the setting of a concert pianist, but rather as a way to bring people together. When I was playing, I got lost in the music, and expressed myself in a way that only music can. A goal for me this next year is to stay an active performer and know that doing that in an ensemble setting is just as acceptable as a soloist. The other new thing is I gave a speech without any preparation. The words were coming to me while other fellows were speaking, but when I got up there with my outline and all, I didn't glance down once. Looking out to the audience, I realized I, while my blood family was absent, was among family, the NEC/Sistema family, and it was really special to have such an intimate, meaningful graduation, instead of the typical names and pre-determined speeches. It's not too often one gets to plan their own graduation, and we did just that. After then flying to CA to hear my sister's graduation which was essentially a capital campaign speech (and an atrocious one at that), I continued to feel so fortunate for how special our ceremony was.

I'd also like to put a plug for our recently finished Sistema assessment paper: http://sistemafellows.typepad.com/my-blog/2013/05/an-exploration-in-el-sistema-inspired-assessment-practice.html
I'd love to hear your input!

And then, I went to MN for 3.5 days. Mainly so I didn't have to take a 7 hr flight straight back, but also to have some meetings I had initially scheduled over Christmas break that didn't happen then...And in those 9 meetings in 3 days, my future was deemed. I know part of it is honeymoon stage of not having been home in 6 months, but part of it, and the part that counts, is that it just felt so right! The work happened so naturally and I truly felt the potential and support that WILL happen. How can the Twin Cities NOT have a program?!