10:1 Principle (WR 4)

Earlier in the year while creating our contact lists, Mr. Wysong (Our ISM teacher) told us it was important to have many, many contacts. As I begin to make calls and send out emails attempting to get research interviews, I now see why this is important. Mr. Wysong told us that, on average, for every ten contacts you have you will get one response. I initially thought this was an exaggeration, but I am finding out this to be very true. As you can probably tell, my main focus of this week has been contacting music production professionals with the intent to attain a research interview. So far, I've had two responses out of the twelve attempts I've made. I count this as progress however, because of those two I have one interview scheduled and another in the process of being scheduled. This up and coming week, I will be making more calls and following up on previously contacts that have not responded yet. 

Earlier in the week, I also completed the second research assessment of the year. In this assessment, I decided to learn about mixing. Mixing is still a new concept for me and I am only just beginning to understand it. After reading some articles and receiving some advice from a friend, I began to apply some things I've been learning to my own songs.

Practice Makes Perfect (WR 3)

As the year progresses, naturally every class gets more rigorous.  This is especially true when it comes to ISM. The most recent week in ISM was all about practicing and preparing for the evident launch into the real world. In class, we practiced making professional phone calls to prepare us for actual phone calls when it really matters. This was extremely helpful because it helped calm some of my nerves on the subject. We rehearsed every possible different situation so that we are prepared and know what to say with any given question. The most important thing I learned through this process is that smiling on the phone is very important. Even though the person on the other side of the phone can not necessarily see you, smiling subconsciously helps with your tone and thus makes you sound happier and more pleasant.

Another thing I did this week, was complete the rough draft for my resume. Having an outstanding resume is a crucial part of ISM, and life in general. I will use my resume for many things throughout the year including research interviews. An interesting fact that I learned/used while creating my resume was that employers typically look at your resume for thirty seconds or less. This means that I tried to make my resume stand out, but also keep it simplistic and just have the necessary information to showcase myself in the best way possible.

Hard Work Pays Off (WR 2)

This past week, my greatest accomplishment actually had nothing to do with ISM. Over the summer, I have been practicing extensively to prepare for the 2014 All-Region Jazz audition. Last year I auditioned, and made second chair. But this year, I was determined to make first chair. The audition took place last saturday morning. Once the results were posted and I saw my name as 1st chair I was overwhelmed with excitement and joy. I am very excited, but I know that I am not done yet. Because I made 1st chair, I will now go on to the All-State audition in a couple of weeks.

This last week was also very productive in the ISM part of things. I would say the most important thing I accomplished was completing a list of twenty-five contacts in my field of study. This list will be very helpful as I start to go on research interviews in the very near future, I won't lie I'm slightly nervous! I also completed my first research assessment. For this assessment, I read an article by Joe Glider about how home music producers need to be able to balance their time with the different aspects of creating Music. This was a great article and I learned a lot that I can apply to my music production workflow.

New Beginnings (WR 1)

Welcome to my 2014-2015 ISM blog! On this blog I will be showcasing all the work and progress I make this year. Every week, I will be posting a blog about the projects and achievements I have compleated in the previous week. For those that do not know, ISM stands for Independent Study Mentorship. ISM is an opportunity for students to study and be mentored by a professional in their respective field.

This year in ISM, we hit the ground running. From the very first class we have been working, researching, preparing, and practicing. Within the first week I created a mission statement, chose a quote that pertained to my ISM journey, and gave my first speech. We were told that we had to give a speech the second class about ourself and our topic. Initially, I thought it would not be difficult but once I stood in front of my peers, I was terrified. Normally, I do not get nervous speaking in front of people but for some reason I could not think normally. Afterwards, we talked about body language and how it is crucial when speaking in front of an audience. I learned a lot about things I had never thought about before and will definitely be practicing for future speeches.

The other things I did was complete my mission statement and choose a quote. While writing my mission statment, I really had to think about what my purpose and and goals would be for ISM this year. This was good because it gave me a vision for this year and a statement to operate by. The next thing I did was choose a quote that would represent how I would operate in ISM. I choose a quote by Henry Ford that said that life was a series of experiences that develop character.  Then at the end, it says that the most important thing is to keep marching onward. I interpret this as no matter what happens, I need to keep moving forward and never give up on my dreams.

Both my mission statement and quote can be found on the "About Me" tab.