"Don't Ruin Your Career Before It Starts."

Don't Ruin Your Career Before It Starts

This is @lecalethicia. She's a phenomenal harpist here this week at #Marrowstone2016. High schoolers and college students from all around the world audition to become students and symphony members under the tutelage of world-renowned faculty who also come from long distances to be here!

Every day for 14 days, the Western Washington University's performing arts building is soaked in Brahms, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and more. There are more kids than practice rooms. and the music and rehearsal schedule is so rigorous that every nook and cranny of the building is utilized to its full capacity... Including this loading dock I stumbled upon while on a coffee break, which @lecalethica has boldly claimed for her practice space. Just imagine harp wafting through the sky and down onto the Puget Sound... 

Don't Ruin Your Career Before It Starts(2).jpg The *actual* view from the WWU's performing arts loading dock!  [/caption]

My job this week is to be the Student Liaison, which means I get to (among many other things) calm these kids down from all the extra anxiety already pulsing through their talented veins. I'm not here necessarily to play music. (Although I do get to lead a songwriter's circle on Saturday.) Instead, I'm just here to talk them through some of the extra stress of being in the midst of such a high-performing group of peers and colleagues.

This job might be my calling.

My recurring advice to these students is as follows...

  • Don't ruin your career before it starts.
  • Rest. Eat. Drink water.
  • Know this: you are here because you already worked hard. You've made it! you BELONG here!
  • Don't make any rash decisions.
  • Breathe. Deeply. Frequently.
  • Pain means you're doing something wrong.
  • Listen to your body. It knows more than you think it does.

This is the advice I think we all need reminders of, yes?

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