20 Time Update

As I researched the jobs of music teachers and music therapists, it can help many people with the same  passion. Both of these career options have a lot of other characteristics other than being passionate about music. For many pepopple, they might not want to work with others, have patience, or be good at instructing or helping people. These are all big deciding factors on whether their passion in music could be pursued in either teaching or therapy.

Lately in 20 Time, I have been working on my rough draft research paper. I have found some information on music teaching that I am interested in and I am defintely learning along the way!

Bringing my Passion to the Future: #7

      As I have done my research, I have found that there are many professional opportunities for me to pursue in music. However, not many of the careers I think I would actually want to do. I think I would really enjoy being a music teacher or possibly a music therapist. I love helping people and making them better, and I want to make a difference in people's lives by using music just like others have to me. I thought about also being a private voice teacher, because I like working one on one with people, as well.
      Currently I mentor a singing group at the middle school, which is giving me some experience and showing me what it is like to work with a group of students. I really enjoy it!
      As I looked at my other option of music therapy, I really liked the idea of helping others and I love working with mentally disabled and other people alike. One thing I noticed that I didn't really like about being a music therapist, is you have to take biology courses. I really really like science, but not the biology part!
      Also, neither of these jobs pay super well, but they aren't terrible either.
      I think I will keep further researching more options for a future in music until I have found a perfect match!

Learning from 20 Time: #6

          So far, I have learned a lot about learning with other people and communicating with people in the real world through this project. One of the most valuable lessons I've learned is being able to move past the obstacles and redirecting yourself. When things don't go as planned, it throws you off guard but because that has happened, I have learned how to handle those things and figure out ways around them. This lesson will help me for any future things that may stand in the way or go wrong as we continue on the project. This can also help in real life throughout high school because no matter what there will be challenges I will have to learn to face and handle appropriatley. 

Pitch Day: #5

       On pitch day, I was pretty nervous but going into it but it ended up being easier than presenting in front of the whole class. I was surprised at the number of people who actually loved our idea because I thought that going to do things for children in hospitals was a more common thing to do. We didn't really get a lot of feedback on our project though. I think pitch day was actually pretty relieving, reassuring day because it became easier to present and lifted that pressure I had leading up to it!

In the Process for Smiles

           So far in our 20 Time project, we have figured out what hospitals are in the potential for us to go to this winter to perform. However, we do not having anything totally solid in our schedules for us to go. We have worked on our pitch project trifold and are in the process of selecting numbers to choreograph and sing. Singing and dancing for the children is very exciting for us and we can't wait to get in there and share smiles with everyone! This process hasn't been the easiest for us to dodge some obstacles here and there and we are still pretty far from our final result, but we are learning from this and keep moving forward because doing this for the children is very important to us!

Hospitals Contacted; Singing and Dancing for Children is my Passion: #3

     On a Saturday, Lexie and I got together to call the hospitals we wanted the chance to perform at. When we called, we were referred to the Child Life Departments, none of which were open on Saturdays. So this ran into a few problems. We still attempted to call the main lines of every single hospital, and then called the referred numbers. None of the numbers were open and we didn't get to schedule our hospital visits. The hospitals we called were Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children, Chilrden's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Paoli Hospital, Johns Hopkins, and Hershey Medical Center. When we called, we told the other side of the line who we were, our school, and asked them if we would be at all allowed to come sing and dance for the children of their hospitals. A few that had answering machines, we left a message with the same explained and a callback number. We still have to call to schedule our performances. This has taught us that just when we are free doesn't mean it's the quickest, easier way to contact people and we need to think in the real world business weeks where people would actually spend their days sitting in front of a phone.

Contacting Hospitals for Singing and Dancing for Children : #2

The authority that Lexie and I contacted for our 20 time project was all of the different hospitals we want to volunteer our time to do our performances. Calling the hospitals was so we could ask them if it would be possible for us to perform for the children patients of that hospital, and if we could schedule a time to do so. When we called, we told them our names and school, and what we wanted to achieve by calling them: the opportunity to perform for the children. There were five hospitals we called which include Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Saint Christopher's Hospital for Children, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Paoli Hospital.
We called the hospitals main lines, and when we connected, we were given new numbers to call in the Child Life Departments  at each hospital. We ran into an issue when none of those departments were open over the weekend! Some of them didn't say whether or not they were open on the weekends, so we called but there was no answer. We left call back numbers and explained our situation, and will most likely call each one again tonight.
It is very important that we work out our opportunities to perform at these hospitals, because if we don't, we don't have our project! We want to bring smiles to children's faces and give them company they might not receive often. We wanted to contact the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, but their website said that they have an overwhelming response of visitors like us. Because of this scenario, it made us realize that we have to really work everything out so these hospitals can hopefully accommodate us!

Singing and Dancing for Children is my Passion : #1

   My name is Alex, and for my 20 Time project, I have partnered up with my friend Lexie to share our talents with children in hospitals. Music is a huge part of my life and is undoubtedly my passion. I have been playing the piano for 10 years and I am also a singer. I am involved in as many singing ensembles as my schedule allow, one of my favorites being the York County Junior Honors Choir which has helped shape me into a better person, as well as using my musical talent as a gift to other. I also take private vocal and piano lessons. I've always wanted to make a difference in someone's life through singing and inspire them like I have been inspired by my role model singers.
   Together, Lexie and I will coordinate a little show of singing and dancing, including her passion of dancing because want to bring smiles and inspire children in hospitals who are suffering from cancer or other conditions/diseases.
   Why children in hospitals? Well, Lexie's dad has cancer so it strikes home and is very important to her. Cancer isn't a thing to take lightly, or easy to deal with. It is very important to myself, as well, as I know family members who have or have had cancer. So by doing this project we want to enlighten the lives of the fighters, and give them hope and joy. Just like others have inspired me, I want to inspire these children. Who better to inspire than kids who have to fight giant battles from a very young age, and help them becoming inspired for the life they have ahead of them?