My apologies, I had to brag a little bit, anyway, this semester we focused on preparing a few songs for my senior recital as well as to play/do at our final wind ensemble concert of the year. I wrote an arrangement of the Friends theme song and we did a vocal percussion piece, Rockin’ Rickie Rocket. I picked the vocal percussion piece knowing that anyone who could speak would be capable of performing with us. A lot of my song choices throughout these years have been based on factors similar to this. I want anyone and everyone to be able to experience the joy of percussion. My role is to run the rehearsals. I love and hate this because being in charge of your peers is hard. A lot of people come to purple thunder largely for the social aspect. Due to this, I have to balance talking and enjoying each other’s company with getting things done and making progress on our pieces. It is a challenge, but it has been so fun overall and has provided great preparation for my future career as a teacher! 

I play with a different team of people every month which was once again a great experience in working with a group. I gained listening skills and communication skills as I had to express thoughts and needs such as whether or not I was hearing certain parts loud enough in my monitor. I just started going to this church at the beginning of the year, so being a part of the worship team has been a fantastic way to get to know more people. I really enjoy the intergenerational aspect of Faith Baptist’s team. One week I was with a 75-year-old guitar player and a high school bass player and the next time I was with two middle-aged moms. It is fun to make music and do ministry with such varied people! 

The team we had for Nunsense was great to work with. Early on, I decided to make growth in my ability to work with others my focus in this service opportunity. My fellow bandmates were fabulous. We communicated time and time again about who was covering what parts and whether or not we could hear everybody well. Also, working with the cast proved to be a stretching experience. If something was clashing or not jiving quite right,  I would ask them what they imagined or what they wanted for that certain section and then I would try to adjust and provide that for them. Overall, the team was encouraging supportive and helped to make the hours melt away. We all put a ton of work into this, but the time flew by. 

My role included going to weekly meetings to plan the night each week and reflect on the past weeks night. I also made and hung up signs and advertising. The second half of the year I spent a bit of time recommending and finding student speakers to add some teaching and/or testimony to each worship night. I sometimes ran the lyric slides or helped set up. I also played from time to time, piano, bass, and cajon. I basically just helped out wherever needed and also gave my feedback throughout the year in an effort to improve the event. It was a good experience overall.