May/June Update

My time as a student at Glenville State College ended this May. This time was bittersweet. I was just getting used to the place by the time I turned in my last assignment. I have one more semester of internship, and I will be finished by December 10, 2011. Finally... college is over. I believe the only part of college that I will not miss is living a "low-income" lifestyle as a poor college student.

A few select people from the music department ended the semester with a tour around the Parkersburg area with the Percussion Ensemble. I was happy to go on this tour, because I thought that my time in Percussion Ensemble was over after our regular concert. We were able to play for a lot of people, outside of Glenville, for the first time in years. It was tough having 1 concert each day. I couldn't imagine 2 concerts a day like they used to do back in the day. A few times we were soaked by the rain, we lost our set player because of a family emergency (thank God for alums), and really didn't get a lot of sleep. I'm glad the hotel had free cookies.

After the Percussion Ensemble tour, I returned to Glenville to prepare for a day tour with Brass Ensemble and Chamber Singers. We visited Lewis Co. High School and performed for the music students there. I was feeling great for most of the day, until the end, when I noticed that I had a slight sore throat. I ignored it, thinking that it resulted from singing too much without warming up enough. Wrong. After I went home, it began to get worse. A few days later, I had nasty white spots on my tonsils. The worst problem was that by the time I thought I needed to go to the doctor, it was already Friday evening and the doctor's office was closed. I had to wait until Monday. I ran a fever for a few days, and by the time I made it to the doctor, whatever infection I had was beyond normal. By then, my lymph nodes were swollen, my neck looked huge, and I discovered that humans have lymph nodes on the back of the head because I had two huge knots on the back of mine. The PA said that my throat was the worst she had seen in a while, and prescribed a really strong antibiotic with phenergan. They also gave me a shot of the antibiotic in my hip to boost the medicine. That was a Monday. I began taking my antibiotics regularly and did not see improvement until Friday. In the meantime, I lost about 5 pounds because I couldn't eat or drink like normal. This was one of the most horrific cases of tonsillitis I have had. I was out for over a week and all I did was sleep. I lost count of the number of ibuprofen pills I took for swelling. The lymph nodes in my neck are no longer swollen, but I still have two knots on the back of my head. Apparently, those can last up to a year after the infection.

My sister Anna informed us that she is pregnant. She was so upset on Mother's Day because she had been wanting to get pregnant for so long. A few weeks later, she learned the good news, and realized that she was in fact, pregnant on Mother's Day and just didn't know it. I am now right in the middle of everyone around me either getting married or having babies, and I am still so far from that part of life. I am happy for the people around me, but at the same time, it is torturous.

I began my third year at Energy Express in June. This year, I am a mentor, which means I have my own class. I have grades K-2, and all girls. I switched to a school closer to home, and I am having a great time with this teaching experience. I really can't say much more due to confidentiality rules, but I am having a wonderful time.

About a week ago, I learned that I am allergic to wasp venom. After 11 days, I still have a darker spot on my arm about 2 inches by 3 inches from the poison. Thankfully, the swelling is completely gone and I can play piano again.

I am still not sure where I am going to be for my internship.... We are supposed to start August 24th.