A Fiddler On The Roof

The first thing I think of when I hear the word "tradition" is the movie Fiddler On The Roof. The entire movie follows a Jewish family and the rich traditions of the Jewish culture as it is being attacked by the Germans. The community's traditions are alter and their whole world is turned upside down.

Now I didn't say all that to suggest that Converse's traditions are anywhere close to Jewish traditions, but like Dr. Vaneman said traditions do change over time.

Something I think would be a really funny tradition to start would be to kidnap the freshman and take them fountain hopping during Big Sis Little Sis week.

How do would you pull this crazy idea off,  you say? If you can follow what I'm putting down, this would be fun, just you wait.

Now, we all know Big Sis Little Sis week is pretty crazy especially with all the Bigs Facebook stalking and creeping, the Littles getting random gifts from people in weird costumes and anxiously waiting to find out if they got a good Big or not. To add to the chaos, I think it would fun if the Bigs came and kidnapped the Littles kind of late one night, dressed up in their crazy costumes, and took them fountain hopping across campus. This could possibly be done the first night of Big Sis Little Sis week because the Littles are too excited to go to bed soon after their gifts are given.

About 30 minutes after the gifts have been passed out, the runners who gave out gifts or the Bigs in disguises could run down the halls with loud horns and pots and make the freshman come with them. The Littles would then be taken to the different fountains on campus and be told to jump in along with the Bigs or runners. I think this would be a funny way to "initiate"the freshmen to Converse without being rude or bullying. It would be so fun to look at pictures of and to talk about later.

I know some people would think this would be too extreme and freak out the freshman too much, but I think it would be pretty funny. I know I would be laughing the entire time! Anyone want to help me out?

P.S.- If you haven't seen Fiddler On The Roof, I highly recommend you see it. Here's the opening scene of the movie where they first introduce some of the traditions of the Jewish culture.
           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJO35zU5bXg

You May Say I'm a Dreamer, but I'm Not the Only One...

Although John Lennon is talking about world peace, I interpret this one line to mean that everyone has something that they dream about no matter who they are. Eleanor Roosevelt once said "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Beauty is only what you perceive it to be; our dreams are only as good as what we dream them to be.

My ultimate dream is to be a traveling worship leader. I know, you're thinking then why are you going to school to be a music therapist? Let me explain:

First of all, I LOVE the Lord! He is my everything! All I want to do with my life is serve Him. I look up to women like Kari Jobe and JJ Heller who are currently living this dream. I would love to travel around the country and even the world leading others in worshipping our Creator. I want to be able to travel with my future spouse and a band if possible. If that's not what God wants then I'll do it by myself with His help. Economically, I would want to be able to provide for myself and a family but also be able to give to others. Socially, I would love to meet some of the musicians that I look up to and have a lot of connections in the music industry world. There would be so many new experiences to encounter and people to meet that share a common goal: to simply worship God in what they do! This lifestyle would be really exciting but not very fitting to raise a family in. It would also be kind of unhealthy considering all the traveling and lack of sleep, but the experience would be worth the lost hours of sleep!

Being a worship leader is my ultimate dream, but a more realistic dream underneath that dream would be to practice music therapy. Music therapy is an occupation that I would enjoy a lot. I would be able to minister to people's needs through music which is a perfect combination for me. I don't have a preference to where in the country I would do this, but hopefully it will be where I get an internship. I want to work with pain management and/or cancer patients. Again, economically I would like to be in a place where I could support myself and a family but be able to give to others. With this job, I would like to have all different types of patients but mostly ones that are dealing any kind of pain. The most difficult thing about being a music therapist is finding a place to work to begin with. Music therapy is a growing field, but many states have little education about it and therefore will not cover it with their state health insurance.

Right now, I am pursuing a degree in Music Therapy. All the music classes that are required for this program have made me a more diverse musician. When it comes to my worship leadership dream, I try to lead whenever an event arises. Also, the psychology classes within my degree program can help me learn how people interact with music. I used to lead my youth group praise band so that experience has helped. I'm actually looking into some leading opportunities now that I'm college as well. I'm also considering the possibly of doing both. I could practice music therapy during the school year and lead/ travel during the summer.