#gloom500

hello! i just hit 500+ followers, and i’m honestly so grateful for how nice and friendly everyone has been so far. thank you so much!! as a way of giving back to you guys, and to celebrate 1 month of being part of the studyblr community, i’ve decided to do something special. i’m going to have a one week long q&a session and give blog compliments!

rules:

must be following this weirdo (me)

must be a studyblr

reblog this post! if your studyblr is a side blog, please mention the url of your main blog in the tags.

you can like this post to bookmark it, but likes won’t count.

message me off anon with this emoji 🎵 and ask me anything you want (about me, school, college life, tips, advice, weird stuff, music recommendations, basically aNYTHING)! you’re also welcome to ask me multiple questions, if you’d like.

side note: i will not respond to questions that i’m not comfortable answering (anything that is an invasion of privacy, nsfw-related, etc.).

what you’ll receive:

the answer(s) to your question(s), of course ^_^

a compliment about your blog

this will end on may 7, 2017 at 9pm PST (pacific standard time). be sure to get in your messages by then!

i’ll be tagging all these posts with #gloom500, so if you don’t want to see them on your dash, you’re welcome to blacklist.

i’ll do this once this gets at least 10 notes. otherwise, pretend you never saw this.

ahh thank you so much!! you’re pretty awesome too, dee. ^_^

tips for incoming seniors:

keep up your grades, and continue being involved in your school and your community. it’s important to be well-rounded!

think about what you want as your career. what are your interests? what are your strengths? what would you like to do in the future?

if you haven’t already, start thinking about which colleges/universities you would like to attend. have a few options in mind, including schools that you feel you would definitely get into, schools that you might have a chance of getting into, and, of course, your dream schools. do you want to go to school near home? or do you want to go to school somewhere farther away? public school or private school? big school with lots of people, or small school with fewer people? don’t be afraid to be a little ambitious! take some time to do your research, and visit the different campuses to get a feel for what the environment is like, if possible. 

the moment college applications become available, start working on them right away! don’t wait until the last minute to complete them, because i can almost guarantee that you will be stressed out about them. writing your personal statement(s) may seem daunting at first, so you can ease yourself into the college app process by filling out the basic information (your name, email, address, high school grades, etc.). then, you can begin working on your essay(s). 

make a list of due dates for everything related to college and college apps. keep this list nearby you so that you don’t forget!

prepare and register for any standardized tests that you still need to take (or that you would like to retake), such as the ACT and/or the SAT. 

if you feel that you’re capable, consider enrolling in AP/IB/advanced classes. you may be eligible to earn college credits by doing so.

develop a financial aid plan, if you need to. do you think you’ll be needing loans while you’re in college? if so…

apply for FAFSA (free application for federal student aid), or whatever form of financial aid is available where you live. even if you feel like you won’t qualify for financial aid, you should still complete the application anyway because you’ll never know what could happen to your financial situation in the future. 

start looking for people who can give you references, as well as people who may be able to write letters of recommendation for you. usually, you need at least 3 people. networking is important!

SCHOLARSHIPS! APPLY FOR THEM! WINNING FREE MONEY IS GREAT! THEY’LL HELP YOU A LOT WHEN IT COMES TO PAYING FOR YOUR COLLEGE TUITION LATER ON! ^_^

that’s about it! i hope this helps! if anyone else would like to add onto this list, please feel free to do so! 

compliment: your icon is so cute, and i love how simple and minimal your desktop theme is! i also really like the header on your mobile theme, and your original content is absolutely beautiful!! :)

hello! ahhh i’m so glad to see that you’re interested in being a music major. that makes me super happy! ^_^

advice for future music major applicants:

this is probably really obvious, but you definitely gotta practice! practice as often as you can so that you can keep up and improve your skills. here is a post with some great tips for practicing!

if possible, participate in music groups/organizations/programs/activities outside of school. show the application committee that you are also involved in your community. for example, i participated in a summer music program for 8 years, and i also played classical music for senior citizens and patients with alzheimer’s disease at local care centers as community service (also for about 8 years). additionally, i help my violin teacher with playing piano accompaniment for his younger students at our recitals, and i still continue to do so. 

when you’re looking at different universities or music schools that you’re thinking of applying to, you’re most likely required to do an audition. prepare the pieces, scales, repertoire, etc. that each school asks you to perform, and practice them very thoroughly! if a particular school gives you the option or wants you to send in a video audition rather than doing an in-person live audition, make sure you have the necessary equipment to film it (camera, microphone, etc.)!

in your personal statement(s)/college essay(s), write about something related to music! it could be something as simple as having an epiphany while listening to a particular song/piece, or something as interesting as observing and noticing things while attending a concert. for example, i wrote about my experience and process of learning the first movement of beethoven’s waldstein piano sonata (that was a really hard piece!), and i talked about all the different obstacles that i faced and how i overcame them, as well as how i felt frustrated while practicing for hours on end, and how happy and excited i felt when i could finally play it successfully and perform it!

it’s usually best if you have some basic piano skills, even if piano isn’t your primary instrument. having these skills will definitely help you a lot in your future music studies. 

think about what aspect of the music field you’re interested in. do you want to compose your own music? do you like conducting? do you like performing? how about working with technology? maybe you’re more interested in history and culture, like (ethno)musicology? or perhaps you want to go into interdisciplinary fields such as music therapy, music education, music management, etc? figure out what part of music interests you the most, and then take the necessary steps that you need to put yourself on the right path to success!

i think that’s about it! hope this helps, and good luck! i’m going to tag my friend @jinstudies since they have more experience than me, and maybe they’d like to add onto this list (hope you don’t mind, jin!). 

compliment: i love your icon so much (i think it’s from neko atsume? that’s one of my favorite mobile games, hehe), and it’s really cute! i also like the header on your mobile theme, as well as the color scheme of your desktop theme!

hi nidhi! ahhh thank you so much; that means a lot to me! :’)

i’ve been listening to “spring day” by bts on repeat lately ahaha, which is a bit strange since i don’t usually listen to kpop. it’s a good song! i may or may not attempt to try to figure out how to play it on the piano sometime later lol.

hello there! i have a slight headache at the moment (hence the slow replies), but other than that, things are going pretty well! 

as a music major, i do a variety of things. currently, i’m finishing up my general music studies, which includes taking multiple courses in musicianship (sight-reading, sight-singing, complex rhythms, music theory, etc.), harmony (understanding harmonic structure in music from different time periods), and music history and culture. at my school, and most likely at other schools, i can choose to specialize and take a certain path in the music field. in my case, i plan to focus on audio engineering. other people may choose to go into composition, conducting, performance, (ethno)musicology, etc. some people may even choose to go into interdisciplinary fields such as music therapy, music education, music management, etc. 

ups: you’re almost always surrounded by music, which is awesome! and you get to meet and work with all kinds of people in your classes. it’s pretty cool! you might even come across some interesting opportunities. take advantage of them!

downs: it can be frustrating at times. you may find yourself staying up late trying to figure out one little problem in your music homework when the solution is actually quite simple. but please, whatever you do, don’t give up! also, don’t let people with other majors bring you down. being a music major may seem easy to some people, but it’s not. don’t let them tell you otherwise.

it’s usually best if you know how to play at least one musical instrument (basic piano skills are highly recommended), unless you specialize in singing, of course. when you apply to be a music major, you’re usually required to audition! *cue dramatic music* (i’m kidding. auditions aren’t as scary as they may seem.)

these questions aren’t dumb at all! in fact, i thought that they were good questions. there is no such thing as a dumb question. :)

compliment: your url is super cool, and it kinda makes me wish that i could have an interesting url too, haha. i like how simple and minimal our desktop theme is! also, the header on your mobile theme is intriguing (mysterious and interesting blue liquids, hmm…). also, what kind of headphones are the ones in your icon? they look nice!

oh gosh, there’s a lot of hard pieces that i’ve played! here are a few:

beethoven - “waldstein” piano sonata, 1st movement

chopin - piano scherzo no. 2, op. 31

mozart - violin concerto no. 5 in a major, 1st movement

bach - violin partita no. 3, 1st movement

bach - violin sonata no. 1, 2nd movement

bruch - violin concerto no. 1 in g minor, 2nd movement

sarasate - romanza andaluza (violin) (i played it a bit faster than the tempo of this recording)

paganini - solo violin caprice no. 24 + variations

wieniawski - scherzo-tarentelle, op. 16 (violin) (i played it slightly under the actual tempo, because sadly i can’t play it that fast lol)

lately, i’ve been listening to a lot of piano, lo-fi hip-hop and chill electronic (you can find some recommendations here). and, of course, i listened to “shiki no uta” by nujabes ft. minmi pretty often for my research paper!

i’m gonna give you a blog compliment anyway because you’re such a nice friend and because who doesn’t like compliments? :)

compliment: i really like how simple and minimal your theme is, and your blog overall is very well-organized. your icon is nice, too! i also like one of your most recent original posts (the compilation of readings for musicology and theory), and i think it’s really helpful, especially for fellow music majors!

ahh thank you so much!! ^_^

i think that my biggest motivation to succeed is that i don’t lose sight of my dreams and my goals. i really want to have good grades, i want to graduate from college successfully, and i want to become an audio engineer and (hopefully) be part of the entertainment industry. in order to make any of these come true, i know that i need to work hard and do my best! so, every now and then, i mentally remind myself of the reasons for why i’m studying and why i’m in school. 

compliment: i see that you’re relatively new here (as am i); hello and welcome to the community! i like how clean and simple both your desktop and mobile themes are. your icon is really cute, and you have a lovely name!! :)

ahh thank you!! my favorite study environment would definitely have to be my room at home because it’s so nice and cozy. as much as i enjoy spending time with friends, i usually prefer to study alone. i don’t always have snacks, but when i do, sometimes i like to have a small handful of cashews or peanuts, or a few slices of an apple or an orange. of course, i gotta study with music! i’m a music major after all, ahaha. lately, i’ve been listening to a lot of piano, lo-fi hip-hop, and chill electronic. all the songs in my study playlist on my about page are some of my personal favorites!

here are a few more:

“blasé” - limes

“sundays” - jufus

“sunset lover” - petit biscuit

“she doesn’t know me” - halberd

“awake” - tycho

compliment: i really love how minimal and simple your desktop theme is! also, your original content is absolutely beautiful, omg. your calligraphy and lettering look so nice! pls teach me your ways ;;