*pauses to allow reader to prepare for epic list*

-participated in an international choral festival

-rode in a taxi for the first, second, and third time

-ordered room service for the first time 

-toured a castle

-saw and toured more cathedrals than I can remember

-crossed a few things off my bucket list

-sang with people from around the world

-listened to the National Chamber Choir of Ireland

-heard the Swedish a cappella group, The Real Group, in concert

-sang in an art gallery

-kissed the Blarney Stone

-went to the National Art Gallery of Ireland

-saw actual Picasso and Van Gogh paintings up close

I wasn't on the ball enough to blog while there, and there's no way I'll ever possibly find the time to recount every single thing, so I will share some of the highlights of the trip through pictures.

Feather on the Clyde - Passenger

Featherstone- The Paper Kites

Come Thou Fount- King's Kaleidoscope

The Clapping Song- Shirley Ellis

A Night Like This - Caro Emerald

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 I've found this so comforting. You can read the rest of the address here.

For my non-music student peeps, a jury is basically your performance final. You walk into the recital hall, hand two binders filled with your repertoire to the two adjudicators, and then make the thirty second walk that actually feels like forty-five minutes down to the stage. And then they choose what you sing. And you have no idea what they're gonna pick. And after you finish a song there's this awkward pause during which you KNOW they're grading you and it's awful. And basically my anxiety levels go through the roof on Jury Day. 

Today is Jury Day for all voice majors. Good luck, my friends. Am I allowed to say that? Because you most defs can't with actors. You say break a leg in the theatre, but what is the protocol for singers?

*Makes mental note to Google this later*

Out of the rep that I'm doing, I like this one the best. Mostly because it's the shortest.

If you're the praying type, I'd really appreciate some prayers today. If you're not, then maybe you could send some thought shapes to the professors grading me. Make sure the thought shapes look like big "A"s.  Thank yeh muchly.

Peace and blessings.

 Like, a lot a lot of makeup. At least a lot for me... I'm too lazy to bother with it most of the time. Once I wore mascara and my roommate asked what was wrong with my eyes. True story. Basically the reason there are pictures is because I want my descendants to know that yes, I can actually look female. That Charlotte is a wizard, I tell ya!

1. The "education" that has meant the most to me is not one that was taught within the confines of a lecture hall.

2. The hardest "tests" I've taken have not been ones printed on paper.

3. The most memorable "lessons" I've had have almost exclusively been taught by experience,  not by a well-paid professor.

As a kid, I was a voracious learner. I wanted to know everything about everything. I devoured books and documentaries like my life depended on it. Learning was so fun for me, not because I knew that it would help me get into university or because it would further my career opportunities, but because I was hopelessly in love with the world. Every day held so much wonder and potential! I wanted so badly to grow up and finally be old enough to be able to go out on my own and see and experience and discover to my heart's content. 

And then slowly, I began to grow up. Though I once believed the teachers that had encouraged my insatiable curiosity were just as awestruck with life as I was, they quickly proved otherwise. They had lost that ability to see the magic in the everyday, and replaced it with mandatory facts, theorems, and equations. Though obviously not intentional, it felt as if their solitary mission was to take students, stuff their heads with the "necessary information for success", shove them through this mold of academic perfection, and then produce hundreds of identical "productive members of society". Kinda like putting dough through a pasta machine, except with humans. 

Facts are important. But there are so many other things that hold merit in life too! I really believe that despite our formal educations, there's still a part of that curious little kid that's survived in each of us. School could never teach you the full extent of the incredible things this planet actually offers. School can't teach you birthdays or weddings or funerals. School can't teach you feeling. You will never see a test at school that measures creativity, loyalty, risilience, empathy, compassion, humor, resourcefulness, or leadership.