Page 10 - Priorities #19 2002-July

Continued from page 9
Taylor: I’ve always taken my music really seriously, even many years ago. While I appreciate school, what I’m doing with my career isn’t something that involves primarily left-brain things. It’s art and it’s music, which are primarily right-brain things, and so that’s where my heart is. But keeping up with school is something I’ve always tried to do, too...so, as the years progressed, life in and out of school has just gotten more jam-packed.
How do you all work out the balance between your in-school and out-of-school lives?
Miranda: How do I squeeze it all in? I didn’t! In my freshman and sophomore years my grades were not very good, in comparison with now. Then I broke my back and I couldn’t practice. I had more time for school work and my GPA increased by a whole point. I wasn’t aware that I was "holding back" academically but once I realized my situation—not great grades and a serious injury—I was having anxiety attacks because I was thinking "I might not be diving and I’ll never get into a college!"
Liz: I’m very pleased with how everything transpired throughout high school. I got into my first choice college, Barnard. I worked at school but I also sacrificed school for ballet—I could have done better. I didn’t realize that until I got deferred by Barnard (last fall). I spent a significant amount of time freaking out because I’d decided to stop ballet for awhile and I thought ‘what if I’m not in ANY college?’ It brought a lot of introspection. Luckily, everything turned out excellently.
Taylor: The way I perceive school is that it’s meant to help people become who they are meant to and want to become. I learn a lot from being in classes. But for every one thing I learn in a class, I learn about 250 things from playing with someone else that I haven’t played with before...or writing a song, or arranging
10 somethingforanorchestra. IfIweren’tabletodo those things, school would be a step backwards.
This past year, I took three APs, which is horrible, but I figured I needed them, and I wanted to challenge myself, too. Basically, I’m really squeezed. I’m doing a thing with the Tassajara symphony, then I’m going to Arizona, then to Chicago, then to Michigan, then to Indiana—all these things are coming up within the next couple of months. It’s going to be stressful—but that’s just what I have to do.
Miranda: The teachers are really good about helping me work it all out. I’m exempt from the 10-day (absence) rule, too. That’s very, very important because...well, for example, last year I had to take a week off right before finals. Nobody complained to me about it, and I made up my work. The faculty gives me some leeway because they know I’m not just wasting my time. Well, I don’t know what they think of my choice to pursue diving, but they know I’m working—I’m not just out with friends.
Liz: The school has been very, very supportive. The faculty did not give me grief, they were just helpful. I was still able to take APs and I managed to pull off a B+ even with missing 15 lectures! And,like, this year, I had Nutcracker for well over a month right around finals. The faculty was great—I took my finals at the end of Christmas vacation, so I had the vacation to study. At most schools, that never would have happened.
Taylor, why did you choose USC? Liz, why Barnard?
Taylor: USC is the center of everything in terms of the music industry. Film scoring and everything else that I want to do, good jazz scene—not New York but good enough. USC is an excellent school...I’m so looking forward to it!
Liz: I didn’t choose Barnard for the dance program; I’m not going to major in it because I think a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts is basically useless. But I’ll be in New York...the sky’s the limit! I can utilize anything there.
Miranda: After my injury, I was having anxiety attacks, thinking ‘I might not be diving and I’ll never get into a college!’