Day 1159: English and Music

English Major by Day, Music Major by Night. 

That's how I like to live my life, or at least that's how this one particular day of my life went. I applied for the National Sigma Tau Delta Convention, an English honor society, back in the fall, and it was a number of weeks before I learned my paper, "Hope in Classic and Contemporary Fairy Tales" had been accepted for presentation at the convention. I lived in the excitement for all of five minutes before a terrible realization set in: I was double booked. 

It turns out, the way this particular year worked, my two majors actually conflicted with one another. I was supposed to be in the Twin Cities for the English Convention, but I was also scheduled to play with the St. Norbert Jazz Band back on our campus for our annual Snowball event. I had to be at both, somehow, and I had no way to guarantee that my presentation time would enable me to drive the four and a half hours back to SNC for the performance. All in all, for a couple of months, I lived in absolute terror. 

Luckily, the force must have been with me, as I managed to secure a presentation time at the convention that would give me roughly six hours to make it back for Snowball. Following my panel on Fairy Tales (which I really enjoyed!) I pretty much ran (in heels) back up to our room and grabbed my already packed bags, along with my coat, and then hurried back down to the parking garage, jumped in my car, and started my drive back to SNC. The weather wasn't really with me, as a snowstorm was following right behind me the whole way. I stayed ahead of it for the most part, but it definitely caused me to slow down a bit and added some extra time onto my drive. 

As I'm sure you can tell though, I made it safe and sound for the three hour Snowball performance, which is sort of like a winter dance with classic jazz and food. It's some of the most fun I've ever had performing, and I'm so happy I was able to make it back. On the other hand, my morning had started at roughly 7, after which I drove four and a half hours alone back to SNC, and Snowball didn't finish until midnight, so I didn't get to bed until around 1.

And then I got right back up the next morning and headed back to the Twin Cities for the conclusion of the convention.

All in all, I drove a lot, but it was absolutely worth it.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 14).