Anyway, about the violin: Natalie loves to play, and she practices it on a regular basis. About a month ago, she decided she wanted to try out for the all-county orchestra. This involved learning a new and somewhat complicated piece of music; and A LOT of practice. For her all-county choir last year, she was chosen to participate – an honor, to be sure, one that she earned through hard work in her elementary school music classes. For this one, she had to pass muster at a county-wide audition, at a middle school a half hour away.
Every day in our living room, our favorite sixth-grader
worked on that new song. Sure, we had to prod her every once in a while to play
for a few minutes. But mostly, she took the initiative to work at it and
practice it. The original audition date was postponed a week due to the
snowstorm, so she had a bonus week to practice. Most athletes I’ve coached know
the two talking points I preach above all others are preparation and effort.
Probably, they get weary of hearing it. Similar messages are shared at home. My
oldest son, Joey, is at the “rolling of
the eyes, yeah I’ve heard that dad” stage when it comes to receiving that
message. So it was gratifying to see that Natalie sort of gets the preparation
thing.
As audition day approached last Saturday, Natalie admitted
to the butterflies in the stomach feeling. At the audition, there were middle
school kids from all over the county vying for the same spots as Natalie and
her friends. The warm-up room was filled with the cacophony of hard-working
kids like Natalie and her orchestral friends. We arrived extra early (my kind of kid!) to the audition so she
could warm up and practice. Her wonderful and caring music teacher took time
out of her weekend to help her students and assuage their frazzled nerve
endings as they had to take the walk down the long hallway to the audition
room. The teacher said Natalie’s audition went well. She said she was not
perfect, but was she composed under pressure, and that she will benefit from
the high-stakes experience for an 11-year-old.
On Monday, Natalie found out that no one from her school
that auditioned had made the all-county. This did not come as a surprise. It is
highly competitive. In addition, her teacher pointed out that many other
districts start their students a year earlier than our district and practice
daily, as opposed to the 2-3 times a week regimen in our district. Hey. This is
no excuse. Just facts. We try not to feel sorry for ourselves when, week in and
week out, we compete against track and cross country programs equipped with access
to great facilities or better on-campus facilities of their own (anything is better than nothing) and
more athletic aid than we have. Preparation and effort. It’s all we can
control.
Natalie was bummed out about not making it, but she took the
news in stride and did not feel sorry for herself. I’m sure it helps to have
peers in her class going through the same experience. It is an excellent lesson
for our children to learn. Prepare to the best of your ability, give it your
best effort. But that guarantees nothing. Sometimes (a lot of times), you can do all that stuff right, and the end
result is not always favorable. In the “good
job, good job” mentality that our kids grow up in – where praise is heaped upon
them from a very early age, sometimes too often and too unwarranted – that lesson
is a good one to learn.
2 comments:
Shame because then it means the quality of the all-county orchestra without Natalie won't be better.
tell Natalie, she is still better than when she started this effort. When I came in as a runner my Frosh. year at Marist, I knew I would improve as a runner, but when I left as a Senior I was a better runner, person, athlete, and friend. I would never have wanted those big facility programs without my friend Pete as my coach.
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