Teacher Interview - Jenny Meggison
What your favourite thing that you've ever learned?
Favourite thing I've ever learned? That's so broad. Hahaha. Out of my entire...what my favourite thing I've ever learned? Ok, yah, ok this is one, probably, but I think how to skate. Like ice skating.
Why do you think it's your favourite or what contributed to that?
Um, I think because I was old enough that I remember, like, what it was like to know how it felt to not know how to skate and then after I learned to skate. I don't know, it just felt like such an accomplishment and also there's something about it where it's like you're going so fast and; I just even remember cross-overs like that was such a huge accomplishment and yah, it just felt really good to master the skill. And now it's something I do without even, like, thinking about it.
What do you think a teach or mentor should be?
Teacher or mentor, I think they should be someone who models what they're teaching or what their recommending or advising. I think they should have lived what they are telling you to do. I think that applies in mentorship but also in teaching, like, there's nothing worse than having a math teacher or theory teacher that doesn't know what they're talking about and you know they don't know what they're talking about.
What experiences led you to this conclusion?
Um, I think probably like the moments of correcting my math teachers or correcting my teachers and realizing that they didn't actually even read the textbook and they can't answer the questions that I'm asking them because they're not familiar with it, like what }I'm asking them. It kind of took away some of my respect for them, which I had. I also had a Soph in first year university, I remember this really clearly, who I looked up to so much. She was a year ahead in the program that I was in and I just thought the world of her and I actually thought "wow what a good mentor" and like "I want to be like her" and I just thought she was so cool. I then remember, in second year, I ended up in a class with her and during that class it came out in casual conversation that she had cheated her way into the second year of the program and it was like all my respect for her just came crashing down. Yah, those were just a couple little lessons, I guess, that make me say that.
What do you do for a living?
So, I'm a pastor at London Gospel Temple Church and my responsibility is for the programs that of students, it's called students, but its for people from grade six through college and university and even after graduating. I think my actual job description says something about everyone under forty or something like that. It's like over ten and under forty; so that like thirty years of people's lives that technically I'm responsible for but it's also a shared responsibility with the other pastors, but yah.
What's you favourite part of what you do?
It's the people, for sure. These relationships that I have with people of all different ages, and now that I'm getting older, I'm thirty-two, there's such a huge difference between my age and the kids that are in grade six and seven and eight. It's so cool to get to know them and I love to see how people grow and change and, you know, seeing someone in grade six or meeting them in grade six and then I get to watch them graduate from high school or graduate from university and like, they're an adult now. That's the coolest thing to me.
How do you think you empower you're students to be creative and explore things themselves?
Well I think that I recognize and really do appreciate that everyone is an individual and that they have to learn the things that I'm trying to communicate, for themselves. That I can't actually make them believe what I'm saying. They have to have that moment where the light bulb goes off and they get it for themselves. I encourage that, by talking about that and acknowledging that everyone's different. And I really do try, and I don't think I'm the best at this but, I really do try to change the way that I talk about the same topic. I try to talk about it in as many different ways as possible. I'm not the greatest at using, like, different tools and different media but I try to do that, and I try to at least approach the same idea from different angles or have conversations about it in a different way so that maybe, yah, maybe one of those ways will just click for someone.
Right, so you're trying to cater to people's personality types?
Yup
How do you approach students that seem to be acting out or challenging you?
People who challenge you, I think, are the ones you need to have the most grace with and you need to choose kindness and try to empathize with where they're coming from because usually there's a story behind the way that they're acting or behaving. And, yah, just because they have a different personality type or different way of handling stress or, whatever it might be that's causing them to, whatever, have this behaviour or have this way of being that you don't click with, I think that you really have to try and understand it and like not just react to it, but just see if you can connect, somehow, in a different way. For example, if someone is really aggressive with me I try to not let that phase me. I try to be kind back instead and maybe that can diffuse that. I try to disarm people a little bit by not reacting the way they expect me to react about something. I don't know if that answers the question. I also try to not do the approaching in front of, like, an audience or like a crowd. I try to respect them in that way.
What's something about your teaching or mentoring that frustrates you?
I think it's what I already mentioned in passing which is I don't feel like I utilize, or, all the time I don't feel that creative in terms of the way that I communicate the ideas or the way that teach or mentor. I feel like it's the same. Like, it's often the same which is partly like, I know my personality and what I'm good at and I use the tools that are in my hand but I think that I could use more of a variety. So, that's something that I would love to grow in and I'm always trying to read articles or books and see what other people do and how other people think to just like, yah, trying and add some more creativity; or ask other leaders, try and deligate things to other people who are more creative in those different areas.
So you talked about choosing people to deligate too, how do you choose the people that would help you mentor students?
I look for people who care about the students first. I always look for people who are willing to set aside they're own interests or their own relationships, even their own schedules, to focus on the students. People who would prioritize the students first. I don't pick people just because, you know, I get along with them. Although it helps if they like me or we click or something like that. That totally helps but it's also not nessicesary. Its like, they're really there to serve and put the student first and, of course we're in a church setting, so something that I want to do is make sure that they feel spiritually that this is the right thing for them to be doing and that I also feel the same. We make a lot of decisions in the church setting based on prayer and what people feel is the right thing for them and the right fit for them. But we also do think about personality and group dynamics and really every group, like I talked about change over time and watching people grow, I find every group, we divide our ages by...we have grade sixes to grade eights together and then grade nines to grade twelves together, and the dynamic can be really different; so I am constantly trying to have a team where every kid in the group has a leader or a mentor that they connect with in terms of personality, in terms of hobbies and interests, and passions. So, it's hard to always do that, you don't always have leaders available that fit those patterns but when you do it's amazing.
With all you're different age groups, do you find that it's easier to connect with a certain age group more than the others or do you find it easier to find things to connect with them?
I think that I connect with all of the age groups just on a different level. And again, as I'm aging, and the age gap is growing I connect less as a peer, older sister kind of mentor with the high school students than I used too but then I find myself connecting with them in new ways that are also valuable. So it's often, I find, about adapting to who you're fitting in that time. So now, a lot of the students in my program, their parents are my peers so they see me more as a grown up, as an adult, as, you know, peer of their parents. Well i can still have an impact and I can still be a mentor with that kind of a relationship dynamic as well, it just takes a different approach. I'm not as much a their buddy but now I'm a trusted adult. So how do I navigate that. So it's not that I connect more with one group or the other but it's just that I connect with them in a different way. A lot of the Jr. High's, I've know them since they were maybe three years old and so I've always be a friendly face in their life, around the church, in the community of the church and the life of the church. But now that their in the program, now I'm not just a friendly face, now I'm starting to become a mentor. So it's just about building relationships with people and you connect with every people in a different way so it's about trying to adapt to that I guess.
That's awesome, on the flip side of the frustration question, what is something about your job or your mentoring that brings you complete joy or something that makes you joyous?
I think when I see someone, like, who's taught...maybe they have talked to me or they have asked my advice or my council about something in the past. When I see them turn around and use some of the same conversation pieces that we've had, or maybe the lessons that they've learned that I've witnessed them learning in their lives, when I see them use that. I fuel their mentorship with someone else. Like, to me that's been the best thing and that's only happened, like, recently because it takes so long to see something like that happen right? Mentorship, it's like a long term thing in my opinion, and should be, especially if you're talking about mentoring young people. I don't think mentors should be someone that you have for six months, I think that mentors should be with you through these season changes in your life, and that ideally, can't always happen but when it does it's really cool. And I feel, like, really grateful that I've been able to witness that a lot recently in people that I've met in grade seven and have been mentoring since then, in some way or at some level or another, you know, when I see them turning around and now their mentoring people younger than them. I think that's really, like, the most rewarding thing for sure.
How do you think the teaching or mentoring, in your circumstance, has changed over, say, the last fifty years or the last couple years? Like, has it changed from generation to generation?
Absolutely, I think that technology, not to be cliche, but technology has. It is changing so fast and what I'm finding, even in the span of...I've been doing youth, which is high school age, I've been doing that since 2009 I think, and just in that amount of time, so that's eight years, I've seen change so much because now, at that time still, information that I could bring to the table would be, like, information that no one would've heard before or be trusted or be taken at face value but starting around that time google and just internet access for people who are in grade five, six, seven...like people don't just listen or believe what I'm teaching, they verify. Which is really amazing actually, in a lot of ways, but it also is so different right ? So I feel like it is changing really fast because a lot of information that people are looking for, or even advice that people are looking for, what's the first thing someone does when they're in a crisis, they don't phone their mentor, they google it. And that can be dangerous. Like if you google the rash on your hand you'll diagnose yourself with like cancer or something because of anxiety or whatever. If you call your mentor you might get little bit more of a stable walk through, but that's just the reality. So I find that it's changing a lot like that. It's like kids and youth, and even young adults we call them, they tend to run right away to forums and discussions and their reading all these "frequently asked questions" before they come to a mentor, and yah, so that relational connection in some ways gets harder. Then in other ways, they have more information so you don't have to do as much background teaching or explaining, you can just cut right to the "let's talk about your situation". Yah, it has pros and cons but it is how it is. I think it's changing pretty fast.
Did you always want to be a mentor ,or the type of mentor that you are?
No, I actually never, ever thought that I could or should work with young people. When I say that I mean specifically with the high school age. I've always thought that I would want to have an impact on people's lives and bring change and that kind of thing; I though it would be through, maybe, the medical field or some aspect of, I had been thinking at one time, like, physiotherapy or speech therapy and the demographic I always felt confident about reaching would be either children, especially children with special needs, or adults or athletes or some sort of specific demographic and I never thought it would be Christians and I never thought it would be Jr. High's or high school aged people or college/university aged people. So that really changed and that's something that I think is mostly, you know, spiritual. It fits with a change in my faith as well but also just a maturity thing. As I changed in myself and as a I got to know myself better, I think a lot of that happened. I became more confident in who I was and that, I think I had a lot of insecurities when I was younger when thinking about what I wanted to do until I kind of clued in that everybody is insecure and that, you know. People don't need someone who's perfect to mentor them, they don't need someone who has it all together to mentor them. They just need someone who cares about them to just be there for them and listen and be willing to talk it through and who can offer just a little bit of life experience or whatever. So, I think when I realized I didn't have to be perfect and when I became more confident in my abilities and my personality, then that kind of simultaneously went with my change of direction
Favourite thing I've ever learned? That's so broad. Hahaha. Out of my entire...what my favourite thing I've ever learned? Ok, yah, ok this is one, probably, but I think how to skate. Like ice skating.
Why do you think it's your favourite or what contributed to that?
Um, I think because I was old enough that I remember, like, what it was like to know how it felt to not know how to skate and then after I learned to skate. I don't know, it just felt like such an accomplishment and also there's something about it where it's like you're going so fast and; I just even remember cross-overs like that was such a huge accomplishment and yah, it just felt really good to master the skill. And now it's something I do without even, like, thinking about it.
What do you think a teach or mentor should be?
Teacher or mentor, I think they should be someone who models what they're teaching or what their recommending or advising. I think they should have lived what they are telling you to do. I think that applies in mentorship but also in teaching, like, there's nothing worse than having a math teacher or theory teacher that doesn't know what they're talking about and you know they don't know what they're talking about.
What experiences led you to this conclusion?
Um, I think probably like the moments of correcting my math teachers or correcting my teachers and realizing that they didn't actually even read the textbook and they can't answer the questions that I'm asking them because they're not familiar with it, like what }I'm asking them. It kind of took away some of my respect for them, which I had. I also had a Soph in first year university, I remember this really clearly, who I looked up to so much. She was a year ahead in the program that I was in and I just thought the world of her and I actually thought "wow what a good mentor" and like "I want to be like her" and I just thought she was so cool. I then remember, in second year, I ended up in a class with her and during that class it came out in casual conversation that she had cheated her way into the second year of the program and it was like all my respect for her just came crashing down. Yah, those were just a couple little lessons, I guess, that make me say that.
What do you do for a living?
So, I'm a pastor at London Gospel Temple Church and my responsibility is for the programs that of students, it's called students, but its for people from grade six through college and university and even after graduating. I think my actual job description says something about everyone under forty or something like that. It's like over ten and under forty; so that like thirty years of people's lives that technically I'm responsible for but it's also a shared responsibility with the other pastors, but yah.
What's you favourite part of what you do?
It's the people, for sure. These relationships that I have with people of all different ages, and now that I'm getting older, I'm thirty-two, there's such a huge difference between my age and the kids that are in grade six and seven and eight. It's so cool to get to know them and I love to see how people grow and change and, you know, seeing someone in grade six or meeting them in grade six and then I get to watch them graduate from high school or graduate from university and like, they're an adult now. That's the coolest thing to me.
How do you think you empower you're students to be creative and explore things themselves?
Well I think that I recognize and really do appreciate that everyone is an individual and that they have to learn the things that I'm trying to communicate, for themselves. That I can't actually make them believe what I'm saying. They have to have that moment where the light bulb goes off and they get it for themselves. I encourage that, by talking about that and acknowledging that everyone's different. And I really do try, and I don't think I'm the best at this but, I really do try to change the way that I talk about the same topic. I try to talk about it in as many different ways as possible. I'm not the greatest at using, like, different tools and different media but I try to do that, and I try to at least approach the same idea from different angles or have conversations about it in a different way so that maybe, yah, maybe one of those ways will just click for someone.
Right, so you're trying to cater to people's personality types?
Yup
How do you approach students that seem to be acting out or challenging you?
People who challenge you, I think, are the ones you need to have the most grace with and you need to choose kindness and try to empathize with where they're coming from because usually there's a story behind the way that they're acting or behaving. And, yah, just because they have a different personality type or different way of handling stress or, whatever it might be that's causing them to, whatever, have this behaviour or have this way of being that you don't click with, I think that you really have to try and understand it and like not just react to it, but just see if you can connect, somehow, in a different way. For example, if someone is really aggressive with me I try to not let that phase me. I try to be kind back instead and maybe that can diffuse that. I try to disarm people a little bit by not reacting the way they expect me to react about something. I don't know if that answers the question. I also try to not do the approaching in front of, like, an audience or like a crowd. I try to respect them in that way.
What's something about your teaching or mentoring that frustrates you?
I think it's what I already mentioned in passing which is I don't feel like I utilize, or, all the time I don't feel that creative in terms of the way that I communicate the ideas or the way that teach or mentor. I feel like it's the same. Like, it's often the same which is partly like, I know my personality and what I'm good at and I use the tools that are in my hand but I think that I could use more of a variety. So, that's something that I would love to grow in and I'm always trying to read articles or books and see what other people do and how other people think to just like, yah, trying and add some more creativity; or ask other leaders, try and deligate things to other people who are more creative in those different areas.
So you talked about choosing people to deligate too, how do you choose the people that would help you mentor students?
I look for people who care about the students first. I always look for people who are willing to set aside they're own interests or their own relationships, even their own schedules, to focus on the students. People who would prioritize the students first. I don't pick people just because, you know, I get along with them. Although it helps if they like me or we click or something like that. That totally helps but it's also not nessicesary. Its like, they're really there to serve and put the student first and, of course we're in a church setting, so something that I want to do is make sure that they feel spiritually that this is the right thing for them to be doing and that I also feel the same. We make a lot of decisions in the church setting based on prayer and what people feel is the right thing for them and the right fit for them. But we also do think about personality and group dynamics and really every group, like I talked about change over time and watching people grow, I find every group, we divide our ages by...we have grade sixes to grade eights together and then grade nines to grade twelves together, and the dynamic can be really different; so I am constantly trying to have a team where every kid in the group has a leader or a mentor that they connect with in terms of personality, in terms of hobbies and interests, and passions. So, it's hard to always do that, you don't always have leaders available that fit those patterns but when you do it's amazing.
With all you're different age groups, do you find that it's easier to connect with a certain age group more than the others or do you find it easier to find things to connect with them?
I think that I connect with all of the age groups just on a different level. And again, as I'm aging, and the age gap is growing I connect less as a peer, older sister kind of mentor with the high school students than I used too but then I find myself connecting with them in new ways that are also valuable. So it's often, I find, about adapting to who you're fitting in that time. So now, a lot of the students in my program, their parents are my peers so they see me more as a grown up, as an adult, as, you know, peer of their parents. Well i can still have an impact and I can still be a mentor with that kind of a relationship dynamic as well, it just takes a different approach. I'm not as much a their buddy but now I'm a trusted adult. So how do I navigate that. So it's not that I connect more with one group or the other but it's just that I connect with them in a different way. A lot of the Jr. High's, I've know them since they were maybe three years old and so I've always be a friendly face in their life, around the church, in the community of the church and the life of the church. But now that their in the program, now I'm not just a friendly face, now I'm starting to become a mentor. So it's just about building relationships with people and you connect with every people in a different way so it's about trying to adapt to that I guess.
That's awesome, on the flip side of the frustration question, what is something about your job or your mentoring that brings you complete joy or something that makes you joyous?
I think when I see someone, like, who's taught...maybe they have talked to me or they have asked my advice or my council about something in the past. When I see them turn around and use some of the same conversation pieces that we've had, or maybe the lessons that they've learned that I've witnessed them learning in their lives, when I see them use that. I fuel their mentorship with someone else. Like, to me that's been the best thing and that's only happened, like, recently because it takes so long to see something like that happen right? Mentorship, it's like a long term thing in my opinion, and should be, especially if you're talking about mentoring young people. I don't think mentors should be someone that you have for six months, I think that mentors should be with you through these season changes in your life, and that ideally, can't always happen but when it does it's really cool. And I feel, like, really grateful that I've been able to witness that a lot recently in people that I've met in grade seven and have been mentoring since then, in some way or at some level or another, you know, when I see them turning around and now their mentoring people younger than them. I think that's really, like, the most rewarding thing for sure.
How do you think the teaching or mentoring, in your circumstance, has changed over, say, the last fifty years or the last couple years? Like, has it changed from generation to generation?
Absolutely, I think that technology, not to be cliche, but technology has. It is changing so fast and what I'm finding, even in the span of...I've been doing youth, which is high school age, I've been doing that since 2009 I think, and just in that amount of time, so that's eight years, I've seen change so much because now, at that time still, information that I could bring to the table would be, like, information that no one would've heard before or be trusted or be taken at face value but starting around that time google and just internet access for people who are in grade five, six, seven...like people don't just listen or believe what I'm teaching, they verify. Which is really amazing actually, in a lot of ways, but it also is so different right ? So I feel like it is changing really fast because a lot of information that people are looking for, or even advice that people are looking for, what's the first thing someone does when they're in a crisis, they don't phone their mentor, they google it. And that can be dangerous. Like if you google the rash on your hand you'll diagnose yourself with like cancer or something because of anxiety or whatever. If you call your mentor you might get little bit more of a stable walk through, but that's just the reality. So I find that it's changing a lot like that. It's like kids and youth, and even young adults we call them, they tend to run right away to forums and discussions and their reading all these "frequently asked questions" before they come to a mentor, and yah, so that relational connection in some ways gets harder. Then in other ways, they have more information so you don't have to do as much background teaching or explaining, you can just cut right to the "let's talk about your situation". Yah, it has pros and cons but it is how it is. I think it's changing pretty fast.
Did you always want to be a mentor ,or the type of mentor that you are?
No, I actually never, ever thought that I could or should work with young people. When I say that I mean specifically with the high school age. I've always thought that I would want to have an impact on people's lives and bring change and that kind of thing; I though it would be through, maybe, the medical field or some aspect of, I had been thinking at one time, like, physiotherapy or speech therapy and the demographic I always felt confident about reaching would be either children, especially children with special needs, or adults or athletes or some sort of specific demographic and I never thought it would be Christians and I never thought it would be Jr. High's or high school aged people or college/university aged people. So that really changed and that's something that I think is mostly, you know, spiritual. It fits with a change in my faith as well but also just a maturity thing. As I changed in myself and as a I got to know myself better, I think a lot of that happened. I became more confident in who I was and that, I think I had a lot of insecurities when I was younger when thinking about what I wanted to do until I kind of clued in that everybody is insecure and that, you know. People don't need someone who's perfect to mentor them, they don't need someone who has it all together to mentor them. They just need someone who cares about them to just be there for them and listen and be willing to talk it through and who can offer just a little bit of life experience or whatever. So, I think when I realized I didn't have to be perfect and when I became more confident in my abilities and my personality, then that kind of simultaneously went with my change of direction
Who am I Conversation - Andrew Robichaud
From Laura Elizabeth Curiale
To: Andrew Robichaud
Subject: Who am I video response
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2017 at 3:06 PM
Reply all
Hey,
Don't worry about the late reply I totally understand!
To answer a couple of you're questions, my first year was at western. I actually was doing a minor in music so I finished first year theory then and am now doing second year theory.
I had always anticipated in music ad in choir but I had never actually done any solo singing. My audition for the music program was actually my first time. I knew I wanted to study music because it was something that had continued to influence the decisions I made in life. It's not just classical music, although I really enjoy it, I also sing pop and musical theatre. The choir that I talk about helped introduce me to classical music but I really took it from there.
I was very involved in my high school coir but the choir I mention in my video is actually extra curricular. It's called Amabile choirs of London. It's been around for about 35 years and I've been apart of it for 12. It was my main output of classical music. My other, as you picked up on, was piano. A majority of what I know on piano is actually self taught. I went up to grade 2 in The Royal Conservatory but after that got quite board. It's funny because after I quit I actually enjoyed ad played it a lot more. I also lead worship at my church while playing piano by playing chords. Which helps me a lot with my GIM classes.
As for the big question of where I want to go with my music degree I actually don't know. I don't mean this n an unorganized way but rather because I don't want to close myself off of something because I'm so focused on one goal. I also know how much plans can change just from switching programs. I know that I really enjoy performing but I also enjoy the other areas we study.
Laura Curiale
From: Andrew Robichaud
To: Laura Elizabeth Curiale
Subject: Who am I video response
Date: Saturday, January 29, 2017 at 8:29 PM
Reply all
Hey Laura!
That’s so cool you too transferred programs! It’s awesome to meet another person who had that need to switch. Was your first year at Western? To answer your questions, it was not filmed in a practice room but actually in a study room within residence. I find the celtic background really helps by using my ear and learning by listening to other players but that is also hurting me in some ways. Since I learned by ear for so long I find reading music a little more difficult, as well as my GIM courses. Unfortunately I haven’t been looking for any gigs in London yet. I might in the near future but I’ve been really focusing on my study’s for right now. As far as my parents reaction they were the one’s who supported it the most and actually encouraged me to do so before I brought it up.
I really liked the style of your video and could tell there was some real though put into it. I was wondering what drove you towards a classical music education? Was it your experience in choir? Or has it been relatively new since coming here?
Where would you like to go with your music degree?
Was your choir through high school?
How much experience do you have on piano? Did you do conservatory or was it mostly for fun?
I look forward to hearing from you,
Andrew
P.s. Sorry about the late response, my parents came down to visit and I haven’t been doing any work!
From Laura Elizabeth Curiale
To: Andrew Robichaud
Subject: Who am I video response
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 2:08 PM
Hey Andrew,
I loved how thought out your video was. The opening was done so creatively. Was that filmed in a practice room? I find it really interesting how to hear where everyone in our program is from and how awesome it is that we all ended up here. I had a similar story as yours actually. I started my first year of university as a psychology major and about half way through knew that I needed to be in music.
How do you think your experiences from the Celtic scene are influencing your music making here at Western? I feel that is it may be hard to play without some of the more improvisational and swung aspect of celtic music.
Have you found some places to play gigs in London? If you enjoyed it I think it's something to continue during these four years.
What were your family's reactions when you told them about switching your major? My parents were quite weary and hesitant.
Thanks for letting me get to know you better,
Laura Curiale
To: Andrew Robichaud
Subject: Who am I video response
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2017 at 3:06 PM
Reply all
Hey,
Don't worry about the late reply I totally understand!
To answer a couple of you're questions, my first year was at western. I actually was doing a minor in music so I finished first year theory then and am now doing second year theory.
I had always anticipated in music ad in choir but I had never actually done any solo singing. My audition for the music program was actually my first time. I knew I wanted to study music because it was something that had continued to influence the decisions I made in life. It's not just classical music, although I really enjoy it, I also sing pop and musical theatre. The choir that I talk about helped introduce me to classical music but I really took it from there.
I was very involved in my high school coir but the choir I mention in my video is actually extra curricular. It's called Amabile choirs of London. It's been around for about 35 years and I've been apart of it for 12. It was my main output of classical music. My other, as you picked up on, was piano. A majority of what I know on piano is actually self taught. I went up to grade 2 in The Royal Conservatory but after that got quite board. It's funny because after I quit I actually enjoyed ad played it a lot more. I also lead worship at my church while playing piano by playing chords. Which helps me a lot with my GIM classes.
As for the big question of where I want to go with my music degree I actually don't know. I don't mean this n an unorganized way but rather because I don't want to close myself off of something because I'm so focused on one goal. I also know how much plans can change just from switching programs. I know that I really enjoy performing but I also enjoy the other areas we study.
Laura Curiale
From: Andrew Robichaud
To: Laura Elizabeth Curiale
Subject: Who am I video response
Date: Saturday, January 29, 2017 at 8:29 PM
Reply all
Hey Laura!
That’s so cool you too transferred programs! It’s awesome to meet another person who had that need to switch. Was your first year at Western? To answer your questions, it was not filmed in a practice room but actually in a study room within residence. I find the celtic background really helps by using my ear and learning by listening to other players but that is also hurting me in some ways. Since I learned by ear for so long I find reading music a little more difficult, as well as my GIM courses. Unfortunately I haven’t been looking for any gigs in London yet. I might in the near future but I’ve been really focusing on my study’s for right now. As far as my parents reaction they were the one’s who supported it the most and actually encouraged me to do so before I brought it up.
I really liked the style of your video and could tell there was some real though put into it. I was wondering what drove you towards a classical music education? Was it your experience in choir? Or has it been relatively new since coming here?
Where would you like to go with your music degree?
Was your choir through high school?
How much experience do you have on piano? Did you do conservatory or was it mostly for fun?
I look forward to hearing from you,
Andrew
P.s. Sorry about the late response, my parents came down to visit and I haven’t been doing any work!
From Laura Elizabeth Curiale
To: Andrew Robichaud
Subject: Who am I video response
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 2:08 PM
Hey Andrew,
I loved how thought out your video was. The opening was done so creatively. Was that filmed in a practice room? I find it really interesting how to hear where everyone in our program is from and how awesome it is that we all ended up here. I had a similar story as yours actually. I started my first year of university as a psychology major and about half way through knew that I needed to be in music.
How do you think your experiences from the Celtic scene are influencing your music making here at Western? I feel that is it may be hard to play without some of the more improvisational and swung aspect of celtic music.
Have you found some places to play gigs in London? If you enjoyed it I think it's something to continue during these four years.
What were your family's reactions when you told them about switching your major? My parents were quite weary and hesitant.
Thanks for letting me get to know you better,
Laura Curiale
Who am I Conversation - Brooke Porter
From: Laura Elizabeth Curiale
To: Brooke Lauren Porter
Date: Monday January 30, 2017 at 3:17 PM
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Hey,
Thanks, I'm glad you liked my video!
Learning to play guitar and piano was actually a bit of both. For piano, I had taken up to grade 2 royal conservatory music. After passing my second exam I actually decided that I didn't want to continue. It's funny but after this point I ended up playing piano more, because I had the basics I learned how to play chords pretty quickly and began to lead worship at my church while playing piano. It's helped me a lot with my keyboard harmony assignments. Guitar was the opposite way around. I had watched my brother learn how to play through lessons and had asked if he would teach me. He said no. I then took it upon myself to learn by myself through guitar tabs. I've been playing for about 6 years and any chance I get to learn from someone who had more training than I did, I would jump at the chance.
I wouldn't say I really had any music teacher influence me but rather music itself really influenced me. I knew what music could mean to someone and how music could affect someone. I actually did my first year of university in psychology and through that realized how much music affected me. I knew that I needed to study music. I ended up switching the following year.
Laura Curiale
From: Brooke Lauren Porter
To: Laura Elizabeth Curiale
Date: Sunday January 29, 2017 at 10:30 PM
Hi Laura,
I enjoyed watching your video and I liked the mellow vibe it had. Also, I love the background music! James Bay's voice is one of my favourites!
I thought it was really unique that you decided to put in your friends saying a word to describe you. I thought it was very powerful.
So how did you get into playing the piano and guitar? Did you pick it up by yourself or did you take lessons?
How did you decide that you wanted to go into music for university? Did you have any influential teachers who encouraged you to go into music?
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to get to know you better!
Brooke Porter
To: Brooke Lauren Porter
Date: Monday January 30, 2017 at 3:17 PM
Reply all
Hey,
Thanks, I'm glad you liked my video!
Learning to play guitar and piano was actually a bit of both. For piano, I had taken up to grade 2 royal conservatory music. After passing my second exam I actually decided that I didn't want to continue. It's funny but after this point I ended up playing piano more, because I had the basics I learned how to play chords pretty quickly and began to lead worship at my church while playing piano. It's helped me a lot with my keyboard harmony assignments. Guitar was the opposite way around. I had watched my brother learn how to play through lessons and had asked if he would teach me. He said no. I then took it upon myself to learn by myself through guitar tabs. I've been playing for about 6 years and any chance I get to learn from someone who had more training than I did, I would jump at the chance.
I wouldn't say I really had any music teacher influence me but rather music itself really influenced me. I knew what music could mean to someone and how music could affect someone. I actually did my first year of university in psychology and through that realized how much music affected me. I knew that I needed to study music. I ended up switching the following year.
Laura Curiale
From: Brooke Lauren Porter
To: Laura Elizabeth Curiale
Date: Sunday January 29, 2017 at 10:30 PM
Hi Laura,
I enjoyed watching your video and I liked the mellow vibe it had. Also, I love the background music! James Bay's voice is one of my favourites!
I thought it was really unique that you decided to put in your friends saying a word to describe you. I thought it was very powerful.
So how did you get into playing the piano and guitar? Did you pick it up by yourself or did you take lessons?
How did you decide that you wanted to go into music for university? Did you have any influential teachers who encouraged you to go into music?
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to get to know you better!
Brooke Porter