Thursday, August 25, 2005

Music Lit

Awhile back we had a poll on our yahoo!group that asked the question:

“Music Majors: If Music Lit had not been mandatory would you still have taken the class?”

If gave a few options for choices including:

“Yes, I wouldn't have missed it for anything.”
“Yes, But I would have dropped it.” “
No, are you kidding?” “
No, but I'm glad I did.”

After this poll closed I had planned on writing a post about the answers that "S" and I had voted for and the reason behind it.
For a few of you this might be old news, I’ve either told you the story already or you were there with us when it happened, but for a lot of you it’s new.
Before I begin though let me tell you what our votes where.

I voted: “Yes, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything”
He voted: “No, but I’m glad I did.”
He had changed his vote from what he had chosen originally. He first had voted for: “No, are you kidding?”

And that is where our story begins. Sophomore year at Ricks for us. I took Music Lit fall semester. I started the class with the best of intentions, that is, to pass the class! I was always sick, or I looked sick, or would fall asleep in classes, or would be so tired I couldn’t even function after lunch. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I studied really hard, and had always had a passion for history, and what could have been better than combining history with music! I loved going to the lectures and listening to Dr. Call. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recognize the music, and would forget everything when it came time for the tests. Friends and even teachers (Dr. Taylor, Dr. Brague and Mr. Nielsen) were starting to show concern for me. I didn’t seem like myself and the fact that I was always sick and looked pale and tired was worrying them. I resigned to the fact that I would be failing Music Lit that semester and when it came time to register for Winter Semester classes I signed up for Music Lit again. I still tried really hard to pull out a good grade, and took good notes and tried to do well on the tests, but it just didn’t seem to work for me. The semester ended and I think I remember that I got a D in the class. I fell in love with the subject, and even though I had failed, I looked into whether W.S.U. (Washington State University) had a Music History degree!

During the Christmas break I again got very sick; so sick in fact that when it came time to drive back to school I couldn’t do it. My dad ended up driving me back to school while I slept the whole 9 hr drive back to Ricks. When I got back to school and the first day of classes began I had no voice, coughing so bad I could hardly breath, and I had a sty in my eye. All my classes were a disaster! I was determined to do well in Music Lit this time around! I saw "S" sitting in the back of the classroom; we had had a couple of classes’ together fall semester and I knew he had a keen grasp and understanding of EVERYTHING musical. It just seemed so easy for him, so instead of sitting down in the front of the class like I had done the fall semester, with some of my other friends, I decided to sit in the back near him. As I couldn’t talk because I had lost my voice, I passed him a note in class asking if he would like to be study partners for Music Lit. He agreed. I wanted to immediately set up a study group for that weekend but he said he was going skiing instead. Well the weekend came and I wasn’t getting better. In fact I was sicker. Even my roommates were getting concerned. I finally broke down and went to the Medical Center on campus to find out what I had and why I was always so sick. I found out that immediately I had laryngitis, and bronchitis and I needed eye drops for the sty in my eye. I told the doctor that I was always sick the semester before and always felt tired and looked pale. He decided that maybe I needed some blood work. When the results came back it showed that I had been anemic. The reason I had no energy, was always so tired, and was constantly getting sick. My immune system was down so I was susceptible to everything. After receiving some medication to improve my iron count, eye drops for the sty and instructions to stop wearing eye makeup for awhile and eat more leafy greens, I started to feel better.
We did become study partners for the class, and good friends as well, (we never dated during that semester, though, I did like him the whole time). I took the notes, he just knew all the music stuff! The rest is “history” I guess you could say... He pulled an A from the class just like all the other classes he had ever taken, and I got an A- or B+, I can’t remember which exactly. I know I held an A the whole semester but that I didn’t do as well on the Final Exam as I had hoped.
When he voted “No, are you kidding?” in the poll, I had to remind him that because of taking that class we eventually got together. He decided that maybe he needed to change his vote. But he wants it on the record that the reason he changed his vote to “No, but I’m glad I did” is because he ended up marrying me because of it. He said it had nothing to do with the actual class…
My vote had a dual purpose. You could say I loved the class so much I failed it the first time so I could take it again… I always intended to go to W.S.U. and study Music History. But that obviously wasn’t in the cards for me. Instead I married the guy that helped me to love Music Lit even more by helping me pass the class…
Posted by ABQ Mom :: 8/25/2005 10:44:00 PM :: 0 Comments:

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