Why Do We Do It?

April 23, 2012 at 11:22 PM

I was recently talking to a group of friends about how stressful college is getting (finals, concerts etc.) and about how many people are starting to drop out or change their major. We all found it interesting that many students, who once seemed so enthusiastic about music ed, would suddenly decide to stop with their degrees. This brought us all to the question of WHY? Why are we staying in music school when it is so stressful? Why are we staying education majors when we could switch to a much less stressful major (such as music business)? Most importantly, Why are we all getting so stressed if we are supposed to like music so much? After much thought, here it the answer I came up with.

We all enter the music education program with some sort or appreciation of music. Over our first few semesters we are exposed to many different musical experiences that test us as musicians and future educators. Granted, not all of these experiences are enjoyable but we have to get through them in order to become better musicians. The problem is, many people begin to realize that their appreciation of music if just that; an appreciation. Just because you like music doesn't mean you want to spend the rest of your life around it. SO here is my big discovery: To get through music school you need to LOVE music. Now, I'm not saying you need to love every moment of it. But if you can get through a long day of harmonic analysis, cello tests and sight singing and can still honestly say to yourself "I love music" then you are in the right profession. I am so thankful that my love of music surpasses the stresses of college.

From Terez Mertes
Posted on April 26, 2012 at 5:39 PM

You made a very important discovery, and good for you! That certainly is a big one. Appreciation can sorta burn out. A deep abiding love will live on and on. It is, truly, one of the reasons (and the most important one) that people will continue on with a challenging, nearly impossible endeavor.

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Why Do We Do It?

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