Furman University

Classes have been over for over a week now, the last final exams have been completed, and now, the majority of the dorms have been cleared out. Several people have already packed up and moved out back to their hometowns. Others have begun the move out process today and then there are the handful of people who are staying for a bit longer. Some students are taking a May X course, some are taking summer classes, and others are doing summer jobs on campus. I’ll be here at Furman until Saturday because of commencement. Many music majors, such as myself, are playing in the commencement band, so we have special permission to stay on campus.

All my exams are finally over and I can breathe a sigh of relief that I have survived. As people have reminded me, freshman year is over for me, and I’m officially a sophomore. It’s ridiculously hard for me to believe that an entire year has passed, and I’ve conquered a fourth of my college experience. Here at Furman I’ve received an excellent education and encountered several excellent professors. I’ve made some close friends this year and I know that we’ll always keep in close correspondence. Looking back at how far I’ve come since the beginning of freshman year, it’s absolutely overwhelming. I can’t wait to see what sophomore year brings! Last blog post of the year. This farewell…that is, until fall!

Of all the classes I’ve taken so far at Furman, my first year seminar titled “Music and the Brain” has been my absolute favorite. This seminar is taught in the spring by Dr. Kathy Cochran. This is a research and discussion based course which deals with questions regarding music’s effects on emotion, intelligence, culture, social development, and personal physiology. For the first half of the term, we acquired basic knowledge about neuroscience, the physics of sound, and the psychology of music. The second half of the term took the knowledge from the first half of the term and applied it to real-life situations.

Within the past two weeks, students have been presenting short presentations which summarize different aspects of the course material and also bring new information to the table. The first set of presentations we did dealt with podcasts whose topic was, of course, music and the brain. My classmates presented information about music therapy, the effect of music on various areas of the brain, music relating to memories, and the influence of music on emotion. My podcast presentation was amusingly titled “Halt or I’ll Play Vivaldi: Classical Music as a Crime Stopper.” In my presentation, I discussed how classical music was used to deter criminal behavior from a high crime area in West Palm Beach. In this particular case study, researchers took this high crime area and began blasting Beethoven string quartets into the area, and immediately, all the drug dealers were gone from that area. Classical music was used to change the atmosphere of the area, and simply put, the drug dealers did not like that kind of music.

Currently, students are working on presenting summaries on various chapters from the book Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. We also working on reading books that we were given halfway through the semester. Each student in the class had a chance to pick one book from the list (This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin, The Power of Music by Elaine Mannes, The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten, and Healing at the Speed of Sound by Don Campbell) and use it for a book club presentation that we would present to our classmates on the final day of classes. The Music Lesson sounded like an interesting book to me, so immediately, I signed up for that book. Boy, am I glad that I picked that book! The Music Lesson has completely changed the way I view music and my performance of my art. I’ve recommended this book to a countless number of people, and I’ll continue to praise this wonderful book that I read for my first year seminar class.

Music is powerful. This class has fueled my love for music and has perhaps made me more passionate about music than ever before. I particularly loved how this class was structured to span so many areas of knowledge (psychology, neuroscience, music, music therapy, medicine, cultural development, social development, anthropology—this list can go on infinitely). I recommend this class to anyone, music major or non-music major. It’s an excellent topic to explore and it’s a wonderful course to take for a first year seminar.

DO dress appropriately for the visit. Dress sorta nice-ish, but please leave the high heels at home. Nothing is worse than going on a tour of the campus and wearing the most uncomfortable pair of shoes that God has put on the face of the Earth. You’ll be doing a good bit of walking, so be prepared for that.

Please DON’T block doorways and hallways when you’re touring the various academic buildings. Classes are generally going on when you’re touring the campus and students still need to get to various places on campus in a timely fashion.

DO take a few pictures of the campus. DON’T take two million and five in a matter of a few hours. Remember, you’re a future Furman student, not a tourist on vacation.

DO have some questions you want answers to and DON’T be afraid to ask questions. DON’T make it so your parents are the only ones asking questions.

DO keep an open mind as you tour and learn more about the university.

DON’T pick up a tray in the Dining Hall (DH). It’ll immediately signal to everyone around you that you are a prospective student. Just grab a plate or two of food, get a drink, and then sit wherever you want.

Concert week! What a crazy week to have everything musical coming up at the same time! If you haven’t already heard, there’s a Furman Bands Concert tomorrow, Friday, April 5th at 8 pm in McAlister Auditorium! Be there to hear the wind ensemble and the symphonic band perform. I’ll be in both ensembles so I’ll have a busy part tomorrow night. In other news, my roommate, another flute friend of mine, and I went to a James Galway flute masterclass yesterday. If you have no idea who James Galway is, look him up on youtube and you’ll find out instantly that he’s a flute legend. We attended his masterclass yesterday morning and gained some valuable flute knowledge. Great musical roadtrip on the one day of the week we didn’t have scheduled morning classes. In other news, I’ll be heading back to my hometown this weekend after the concert to perform part of  J.S. Bach’s “Suite in B Minor” on the flute! Wish me luck for tomorrow and the weekend!

Everyone has heard of Furman’s beautiful campus. The rose garden, the bell tower, the numerous fountains that are spread all over the campus–everyone has heard of these wonderful features that Furman has to display…but not everyone has seen its beauty. As I’ve said before, I always encourage prospective students to come up and visit the campus. I fell in love with the campus instantly when I came up in the spring and now that I’ve been here for about a semester and half, I know that I could not have pictured myself at any other university other than Furman. The campus is quite exquisite and sometimes I feel as if I’m living in a giant educational park or country club. If you don’t believe me, take a look at a few of the pictures I’ve taken within the last year or so!

1)      Finish up all my work for my BIO-102 class. This includes: study for the massive biology test on Tuesday, write my essay discussing the role of water in cellular and molecular processes, and practice drawing mitosis and meiosis diagrams for the bio test.

2)      Meet up with my group members from my music literature class and write up the essay about Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. This is actually a very fascinating topic to research and read about…it’s just not as fun composing it all into essay form.

3)      Aural Theory Quiz on Monday! For music majors, this means melodic and harmonic intervals, melodic dictation, harmonic dictation, rhythmic dictation, and a contextual listening example. You can’t exactly study for an aural quiz, but you certainly can practice a little bit every day by testing yourself with hearing intervals and such.

4)      Presentation for my First Year Seminar (FYS) on Monday! For my FYS, I’m taking a class titled “Music and the Brain” and by far, it is my favorite class I’ve taken at Furman! My presentation for Monday will be about a podcast discussing the use of classical music in the field of criminology. Speaking of that class, I need to study for the quiz tomorrow…and do the homework that’s due tomorrow…

5)      Practice up for my flute lesson on Monday! Music majors here at Furman are expected to practice almost every day. As a music education major, my requirement is two hours a day, but someone like my roommate who is a flute performance major is required to practice four hours a day. Flute lessons are classes too, so you can’t slack off in them either.

6)      Dig out a space on my desk. In the last week, it seems as if my desk as vomited all over the place. I really need to clean…

7)      Catch a breather somewhere in between all this work! Busy busy busy! Life of academically successful Furman student!

The week before Furman let out for spring break, the music department received a special visit from The Boston Pops! Yes, I said it! The Boston Pops! Furman’s Symphony Orchestra performed onstage at the Peace Center in Greenville with this orchestra full of very talented professional musicians.

So why did the Boston Pops choose to collaborate specifically with Furman University? Did you know that Keith Lockhart, the conductor of the Boston Pops, is a Furman alum? 32 years ago Lockhart studied as a pianist here at Furman. Lockhart and ten musicians from his orchestra came to Furman on Tuesday afternoon, talked of their own experiences as budding musicians, and offered musical coaching  and advice to the students in the music department.

The joint concert was held at the Peace Center in Greenville. The first half of the concert was performed by the Boston Pops alone where the orchestra performed the overture to Gypsy, the overture to A Chorus Line, “Through the Eyes of Love” from Ice Castles, and “Bernstein on Broadway.” Singer and songwriter, Ann Hampton Callaway also performed several Barbara Streisand songs with the Boston Pops. After intermission, Furman students took the stage and performed “Finlandia” by Jean Sibelius for a full house at the Peace Center. Musicians from the Boston Pops ended the evening with an explosively powerful “1812 Overture” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Bravo, orchestra! Bravo!

When exam season begins, there is a noticeable change here at Furman. Students find the quietest study space available to them and bury their heads in a textbook. Furman students strive for excellence in our academic studies and it’s blatantly evident when exams start coming. Some students find time management difficult especially when midterm week begins, so here’s a little bit of my advice/technique to successful serious studying.

1)      Don’t put off your study sessions until the day before the exam. Gradually read through and reread the material (notes, textbook chapters, additional handouts and such).

2)      Find a quiet study space where you can isolate yourself and get solid hours of studying done. Some people prefer to study in their dorm room, but I personally find it distracting sometimes (electronic devices, hall chatter, and friends that pop in to say hi at the most inopportune times of the day). I have a variety of quiet study areas such as: the dorm kitchen early in the morning when no one is awake yet, the practice rooms in Lakeside when no one is practicing, the main library, the music library, and the science library. There are several quiet spots on campus that you’ll discover as you explore it more on your own.

3)      Find your study groove. I personally enjoy listening music as I work or study. Music makes me more productive, so I turn it on whenever I can. I usually choose instrumental classical music, but on certain occasions, I turn on Gregorian Chants. Try it. They’re beautiful and they allow me to focus better.

4)      Study in the morning. I’ve found it to be more effective than studying at night. This way, I don’t feel as drained after a full day of doing other things.

5)      Don’t forget to eat after some hardcore studying! Go catch a bite at the DH and eat a delicious cookie with some ice cream. Ice cream makes a good number of problems disappear.

6)      Study time comes before YouTube marathon time. You’ll be graded on how well you understand your class material, not how many Harlem shake videos you’ve watched in the last hour. Important thing to keep in mind.

Happy studying for Furman students during midterm week!

Within the last week, I’ve had a good taste of the culture of Latin America. Last week to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I went with a couple of friends salsa dancing off campus. A picture is worth a thousand words; my friend took tons of pictures, so I believe sharing pictures of the evening will be a great way to share the excitement that was my Valentine’s Day. The evening was well spent learning how to rumba and perform basic salsa combinations in time to the driving Latin American rhythms. Learning how to dance to this kind of music was a great way to get in the mood for the music programed for Furman’s Wind Ensemble concert.

This Friday, the wind ensemble has a concert at 8 pm in McAlister Auditorium. The program includes “Sensemaya” by Silvestre Revueltas, “Fiesta del Pacifico” by Roger Nixon, “Danzon no. 2″ by Arturo Marquez, and the premiere of a percussion concerto by Steve Hicken featuring percussion professor, Dr. Omar Carmenates. Be sure to come and hear the concert if you are able to!

My roommate, Akari Ogawa, is a member in training for a music fraternity called Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI). I interviewed her and got a scope for what being in SAI is really about.

Q: What is SAI? What does the sorority do?

A: SAI is a music fraternity for women. We try to spread music as much as possible to the society and support the music program.

Q: How is SAI different from other sororities on Furman’s campus?

A: It’s not a social sorority—it doesn’t cost as much as they do. It’s a professional sorority.

Q: How do you get into it?

A: What I had to do to get in was go to an information session and go to three recruitment events. The third recruitment event was by invitation only.

Q: What are the requirements?

A: You have to be in at least one ensemble in a year, I think.

Q: What’s the process you have to go through to join the sisterhood?

A: Three recruitment events. What we did was we did crafts and played games and had dinner together to get to know each other well.

Q: What’s Big/Little week?

A: It’s when your Big gives you a present every morning. You don’t know who your Big is yet; it’s very exciting. You get a lot of SAI-related presents. Also, during one of the recruitment events, you have to fill out a survey like what’s your favorite, color, what’s your favorite animal, what’s your favorite candy, etc. I wrote that I like pugs and Hershey kisses. During Big/Little week I got three jars of Hershey kisses and a pug puppy calendar! Also I got a box to put my pin in and lots of decorations (like roses) and I even got a Red betta fish! (Red and Roses represent SAI, so that’s why I got roses and a red betta fish)

Q: What did you do for the MIT (members in training) ceremony?

A: It’s a secretJ but you get to know who your Big sister is. That’s all I can share about the ceremony.

Q: What do you like the most about it so far?

A: I like everything, like getting to know everyone that is not in the same ensemble. I’m pretty involved in the music program since I’m in both band and orchestra, but I don’t know that many voice/piano kids. Now that I’m in a same sorority as them, I’m getting to know more people. Also I loved the presents. Now my room is filled with SAI related things. My favorite color is red, and now my room is filled with red objects! And getting to know who my Big is was exciting.

Q: Why did you choose to join?

A: My friends convinced me to. They all had great experiences participating in SAI. Also, I wanted to be involved in something, and I like music and the people in the music program.

Q: Anything else you want to add?

A: Join SAI! You don’t have to be a music major. It’s fun and everyone is happy and always smiling J
During Big/Little week, you get presents with Sigma sign (Σ) but you can’t use it until you’re initiated. I got a bag and a cup with Sigma signs on it, but they can’t leave my room until I’m initiated.
You get an MIT pin during the MIT ceremony. It’s smaller. When you’re officially initiated, you give back the MIT pin and you receive an SAI pin! You have to wear the MIT pin every day until you’re initiated.