EPTI'm attending the University of Houston this semester, as a Vocal Music Education major(considering a double major in Music Composition). The college search/audition process was somewhat difficult, but the choice actually ended up being easy once all the auditions and admissions were done. I was accepted into 3 music schools-Sam Houston State(located in Huntsville, TX), University of Houston, and University of Miami. While Miami is known for its great music program, something about the school just didn't click got me-I didn't feel like I would enjoy it as much, and I felt like the choral program in particular was lacking compared to the other two schools. Not only that, but the school is like 60k a year, and I didn't get any scholarships, while UH was about 12k a year with scholarship, and Sam 12k a year without scholarships(I only got a big scholarship from UH. I also got a music scholarship from there as well, but it's only 500 dollars a year). I was also accepted into the main school of University of North Texas, but not the music school, and even though they offered a decent academic scholarship, it just wasn't worth it. University of Texas-Austin offered me into a program where I could attend another UT school and if my grades were high enough I could get automatic transfer to UT Austin-completely not worth it.
This left me with two schools to decide between-UH and Sam. It was actually kind of funny, because one of my high school choir directors went to UH, and the other went to Sam, so they kinda argued over which school I was gonna go to
. The choice was easy, though. I'm a city person, and Sam is in the middle of nowhere, UH has a more diverse vocal program with many different ensembles, nicer dorms for the same price overall, a nicer campus(Sam's campus is filled with hills...ugh) and I much, much preferred the faculty and students at UH. So UH it was.After going to Orientation(I had an idiot student advisor who messed up my schedule, which I had to fix later -_-) and registering for everything, I was asked by the Chorale director to sing for her over the summer(something she does with all the new incoming vocal students). I did so, and she was very impressed, saying my aural skills abilities were up to the level of many of the upper classmen, and my singing ability was in a good place for a incoming freshman. She also suggested that I go to TCDA(the Texas Choral Directors Association convention) over the summer. I have a good friend who went to my high school who also ended up being a vocal music ed student at UH, and thanks to him, I was able to go to TCDA, meet several UH students, and had a blast. It was kind of a early start to my college career, but it was great
.Now I'm about to move in to college for real. I move in on Thursday, but I am going to the dorm today to drop some stuff off early, which will make the move in process much easier. I have mixed emotions. On one hand, I'm really excited because this is a new beginning for me, the start of the life I've been waiting for. On the other hand, I'm kind of sad. I'm leaving my home that I've lived in for the last 10 years, the town I grew up in, most of the friends I made in HS, but more importantly, I'm leaving my parents, my mom in particular. My parents live in Cypress, a suburb of Houston, but they will be moving to California before the semester's over and so I will be living on my own. It's surprising. I spent my entire senior year of HS saying "I can't wait for college, I can't wait for college" and I'm still just as excited, but I'm also realizing that I'm going to miss my family and I will probably be a bit homesick. It's strange, but it's all part of growing up, I guess.
I start classes on Monday. The good news is, all my classes are over by 1. The bad news is, I have 8AM classes every day. Joy. I have to adjust my sleeping schedule big time. But now's my opportunity to work hard, pursue what I've always wanted to pursue, and hopefully have a lot of fun in the process. Thanks for reading.
