Wednesday, May 18, 2005

I was right!

I got an A-!

I'm happy about it since it was the highest grade I could have possibly gotten considering that I was behind the entire semester. I certainly wasn't performing at an "A" level until the third test which was only 3 weeks before the final. I went into the final with a borderline A- that was probably closer to a B+ so my last minute efforts paid off.

My average for both Chem semesters is an A. And my overall GPA is the same when rounded to the tenths place. :-D

So I'm still in the running. But I am certainly scared of September: Organic Chem, Biology, and Bio Lab. My GPA is kind of lovely now. How long will it stay that way?

Oh, and I feel better now about my reed issue. The mistakes are all part of the process. By messing reeds up I will learn (the hard way) to not do certain things again. Maybe you need to have x number of bad reed experiences before they start coming out well. I found two other tied blanks at home that I will attempt to scrape tonight or later this week. Also I found a reed I had completely scraped a month or two ago. It's not very good but it does make sound. I had given up on it because I feel like I killed its heart but perhaps my teacher can fix it. He hasn't seen that one yet so that will be the reed I bring in (instead of a newly scrapped one). At least I will have something. I think that's why I was so upset yesterday. I hate to disappoint.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the grade, Hilda! Great news!

Now about those reeds ... some famous double reed player, so the story goes, was asked once by a student just when said student would finally master the (stupid/ridiculous/painful/annoying/basted -- these are my words!) art of reed making. The teacher responded something like "See that laundry basket? When you fill that with reeds you'll have mastered the art."

Something like that anyway.

I've been playing oboe for over 30 years.

I still hate reed making and I certainly haven't mastered it.

Sigh.

Hilda said...

Thank you so much!! Woohoo!

And Patty, it's comforting to know that you don't really enjoy reed making. Sometimes I feel that if I don't actually like it that I will never be able to play. But you give me hope. I can still be an oboist and find reedmaking annoying. Maybe the weird ones are the ones that DO like making reeds. Now there's a thought!

Anonymous said...

Not only is it a thought, Hilda, it's one that I've believed for ages. We are odd enough to be oboists in the first place ... but to LIKE reed making? Those folks are certifiable! ;-)