Check out budgetbytes.com, it's a great site to get ideas for recipes that are cheap, nutritious, and easy to make. I have no affiliation with the site or its author but I still have several of her recipes in rotation from when I was super poor. When I'm on the road and have to stop for takeout, I usually hit up a supermarket rather than fast food. They have prepared packaged sandwiches and individual cold drinks for grab-and-go, it ends up cheaper and faster than a drive-thru.
This post is so touching. I am thinking about my very well-meaning, but emotionally immature, college students, who I'll see again in just two more weeks, and plan to share it with them. Thank you for the tender-hearted post today!
There is at least a little leeway with being a young wind player. Most of us don’t start our instrument until age 10 or even later (I started horn at 14). We have normal (not practice-oriented) childhoods and even adolescence, since there is a natural limit to the amount of playing one can do in a day during the first few years of playing. While a small few of us win local concerto competitions with our youth orchestra or summer program, it is not expected or required for conservatory admission. Vanishingly few of us are entering, let alone winning, concerto opportunities with professional groups before age 18.
As the parent of an ambitious young cellist, I’m trying to figure out how to support and balance this life for a string player. It’s hard at times to remember that a musical life is a marathon, not a sprint, as we watch students his age perform adult-level concerti and win international competitions. The literature required to enter the top conservatories as a cellist is kind of jaw dropping - they want a 16-17 year old to be tackling some of the most complex music in the common repertoire. ONE movement of Shostakovich or Dvorak isn’t enough - please learn the entire thing well enough to solo with a professional orchestra, all while trying to pass pre-calculus, learn French, and take the SAT. Also, prepare a virtuoso show piece that looks like it was DESIGNED to give you carpal tunnel syndrome (although it is unlikely you will actually be asked to play this during the 20-minute audition, what with the entire 45-min concerto, Bach Suite, and piece by a post-1950 underrepresented composer).
The teen (now 14) wants to do online school for his junior and senior year in order to maximize practice time. I’m considering it… but also, that’s crazy, right? But if it helps him have an edge, maybe even get a scholarship… because the schools he wants are approaching $90K a year. 🥲
Check out budgetbytes.com, it's a great site to get ideas for recipes that are cheap, nutritious, and easy to make. I have no affiliation with the site or its author but I still have several of her recipes in rotation from when I was super poor. When I'm on the road and have to stop for takeout, I usually hit up a supermarket rather than fast food. They have prepared packaged sandwiches and individual cold drinks for grab-and-go, it ends up cheaper and faster than a drive-thru.
Most excellent advice.
Upon reflection - these skills are paramount in a life- mate, too.
This post is so touching. I am thinking about my very well-meaning, but emotionally immature, college students, who I'll see again in just two more weeks, and plan to share it with them. Thank you for the tender-hearted post today!
There is at least a little leeway with being a young wind player. Most of us don’t start our instrument until age 10 or even later (I started horn at 14). We have normal (not practice-oriented) childhoods and even adolescence, since there is a natural limit to the amount of playing one can do in a day during the first few years of playing. While a small few of us win local concerto competitions with our youth orchestra or summer program, it is not expected or required for conservatory admission. Vanishingly few of us are entering, let alone winning, concerto opportunities with professional groups before age 18.
As the parent of an ambitious young cellist, I’m trying to figure out how to support and balance this life for a string player. It’s hard at times to remember that a musical life is a marathon, not a sprint, as we watch students his age perform adult-level concerti and win international competitions. The literature required to enter the top conservatories as a cellist is kind of jaw dropping - they want a 16-17 year old to be tackling some of the most complex music in the common repertoire. ONE movement of Shostakovich or Dvorak isn’t enough - please learn the entire thing well enough to solo with a professional orchestra, all while trying to pass pre-calculus, learn French, and take the SAT. Also, prepare a virtuoso show piece that looks like it was DESIGNED to give you carpal tunnel syndrome (although it is unlikely you will actually be asked to play this during the 20-minute audition, what with the entire 45-min concerto, Bach Suite, and piece by a post-1950 underrepresented composer).
The teen (now 14) wants to do online school for his junior and senior year in order to maximize practice time. I’m considering it… but also, that’s crazy, right? But if it helps him have an edge, maybe even get a scholarship… because the schools he wants are approaching $90K a year. 🥲
Good news, though: he does his own laundry!