My name is Kimmi Morrison Galvan. I was eighteen and stupid. Some people might call it naive, but I think it’s stupidity. I was a freshman in college and thought that the world was my oyster. I know, but give me a break...I was eighteen. A full ten years later, boy has my outlook changed, but I suppose I should start at the beginning.
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It was the first morning of class and OMG, what was I thinking? Scheduling a class at 8:30am? EESH. I think it was a remnant of what I thought I should do as far as classes went but then again, that was what I had been trained to think what with conventional schools starting so damn early. I only lasted maybe four or five classes before I withdrew from that class. Never again, I told myself. I had an eighteen credit hour course load so I had my work cut out for me. I dreamed of being...oh, I don't know...something big and spectacular. In truth, I started college with a declared major in Psychology, but then decided that was not the field for me. I must have gone through four different majors in the first fall semester. Oh, and let me tell you how those "freshman fifteen" are not just a myth. For me it was more like the "freshman thirty." I had gotten so fat, it was embarassing. When I realized just how big I'd gotten, I started working on it and slowly, got rid of most of it.
Honestly, I missed a lot of the stuff I used to be involved in when I was in high school. I was one of those over-achieving, smart kids that was involved in orchestra, student council, the honor society, speech/drama/debate, among other things. Everybody knew me but that certainly did not mean I was popular. Either way, I began missing all of the involvement and so I decided to join the university orchestra as a means to an end. After all, playing the cello was one of those things that I had always enjoyed and to be honest, I missed it quite a bit. At the beginning of the spring semester, I was part of an orchestra once again making beautiful music, and then I met him, the man who...well, you'll get to know him as we continue.
Beyond this mystery man who will remain nameless for now, I had unknowingly brought a lot of baggage with me. Little did I know what lay in store for me that spring semester. A whole new world opened up to me, but not without a few remnants of my past.
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As one of the only non-music majors in the orchestra, I was in the minority, but they still treated me with such kindness. The various sections were very close to one another and welcomed me with open arms. It was a wonderful experience. I was a little rusty on my skills because I had not picked up my instrument in at least six months for anything remotely serious. Sure, every once in a while, I would play a little something for the fun of it, but I had not really practiced and I was positive that it showed. The others would tell me that I sounded fine, but I felt like I needed practice so I began spending a lot of time in the various practice rooms. I really began to feel like myself again. I had failed to realize just how much music meant to me.
Even in my other classes, there was significant improvement. I remember taking Pre-Calculus at the time and my grades were starting to slip during that preceding fall. There was no good reason at the time because I knew what Dr. Chong was talking about in his lectures. It was really because I just didn't have the motivation to get things done. When I re-enrolled in the class in the spring, I did incredibly well because the orchestra had a no pass/no play rule that the orchestra director enforced. He refused to allow any of his students to play if they were not passing other classes. It might not have been a campus policy, but Dr. Weber, the head orchestra director, made sure that we knew it was his policy. All things considered, my grades picked up and I was enjoying myself again, at least until one day when I thought I saw Darin Stokes walk right past me when I was on my way to a science lecture.
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I am anxious to read more.
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