Finito!

This boy is finished! That's right boys and girls, I am finished with another academic year at Mt. Allison. Ah, how time flies. On Saturday night I had my last exam and since then I have just been hanging around Sackville working on various projects and tying things up for the end of the year.

My exam week was pretty busy this year, but not as hectic as others have been. I had three exams and my jury spread out over one week, which is pretty decent. Our exam period at MTA runs over two weeks. It started last Monday and will end this Saturday. Many people are already done and have gone home for the summer. Others are still here writing more exams. Your schedule changes from semester to semester. I remember one semester where I had a lot of my exams right at the beginning and then a large break before my last one, which was in the last time slot on the last day! That was kind of was bad, but it goes by so fast anyway.

Lots of people find exams stressful, but I don't think it is too bad. Like I said, it always goes by so fast. The key to success is to stay organized and committed. During exam time, classes are not in session and other clubs etc. are all done for the year. This means you can set your own schedule for studying. I usually sleep in (since I never get to during the rest of the school year), then I get up, make some tea, and study like crazy. At the same time, all the extra time from having no classes allows me to take some good solid breaks. I actually find myself sometimes going out to the bar and for dinners moreso during exams than during the rest of the year. I plan to get my studying done in the day, then I go out and socialize before returning home for maybe a little more studying.

Nevertheless, there are always distractions. For me this time around, it seems to have been my desire to re-watch all the seasons of the TV show Weeds. They are so addictive, especially since each one is only 26 minutes long!

Still, I am really happy with how my exams went. Two of them were pretty easy, and the third was tough, but doable. I also had my jury, which is basically a performance exam that all music students do for their main instrument of study. So for me that meant getting up in front of a small 3-person jury and performing about 20 minutes of singing repertoire I have been working on. It's basically my final exam for my singing classes. Some people find juries really stressful. I think they are kind of annoying, but also fun because it's just another opportunity to perform the material I enjoy so much.

Now that my exams are done (woo hoo!), I have been around the house packing things up into boxes. I will be moving into my own apartment on May 1st. I have also been in the music building a lot rehearsing for a tour with the Opera Workshop. Back in February I posted about performing in a production of the opera Dido and Aeneas. Well now we are taking scenes from that opera and some other famous arias from other operas on tour to schools in New Brunswick. So we have been rehearsing our little program and figuring out a touring script, costumes, logistics etc. We leave Thursday morning - should be fun!

That is it for now. Next week I guess I will post about the opera tour. Until then, take it easy!

Landon

lsbraverman@mta.ca