My Story?

Joined: 27 Sep 2006 Posts: 6 Location: Las Vegas, NV

I was born and raised in Ishpeming, so the natural choice was NMU (and the cheapest). So that's where I went.

I came to the department in 2000. I remember being shocked at how much I had to practice. Mostly I remember feeling like the music department was one big, slightly disfunctional family. I loved every minute of being there.

I feel blessed that Grugin took a chance on me and programmed my stuff in symphonic band. The whole faculty, really, was wonderful. You have no idea unless you've been in a larger university music program. There were music profs at CMU I didn't even know. Unthinkable at NMU!

I graduated in 2004 with a BME and I promptly headed to CMU to get a master's degree in composition, which I got this May. Mt. Pleasant was dull as dishwater but the learning experiences were very rewarding.

I also got married in May and soon after we decided to start a family. We are now expecting twins (March 5)! So I decided that it would probably be a good idea to get some kind of job, so I applied for a bunch of teaching jobs all over the country. Ultimately, we landed in Las Vegas. It's...meh. We're hoping to be able to relocate back to Michigan next school year. *crosses fingers*

Well, that's about it. Keep in touch!