Well I'm moving forward with the scholarship stuff. So far, I haven't had any contributions but then again, I haven't really asked for any yet. I'm still in the planning process I suppose. But Friday, I'm going to see Jennifer's mom to talk to her some about the scholarship and also to get some pics of Jennifer in her ECU band uniform so I can put that on the letter.
I'm hoping to get the letter done soon. It's done but I don't feel it's good enough so I open it up every few days and stare at it, trying to think of ways to make it better. I guess I'm hoping I'll find a more inspirational way to ask someone for money. I'm hoping at least by the end of this month, the letter and all the flyers will be done and I can start sending them out. That's another reason I need to go to Jennifer's mom's house, to see if she can help me get some addresses of family and folks that would maybe contribute.
This scholarship thing has become overwhelming in that I'm terrified it won't work. I'm terrified I'll fail but at the same time, concentrating all my efforts on the scholarship has really helped me a lot. Before, I just dwelled on Jennifer not being here. I cried a lot and was just always grieving her it seemed. Now, I can focus that grief on something positive and knowing I'm doing something to honor Jennifer and her family makes me feel better. And, then there's the acceptance that I do need to let Jennifer go and move on, like she told me to do. I know this scholarship won't bring Jennifer back but it will keep her memory alive. And it will also provide a music education to someone who may not have otherwise been able to afford it. Jennifer would have wanted that.
I'm still working on how specific I want this scholarship to be. I can choose basically what type of people get it; where they are from, the instrument they play, whether they are music majors, etc. etc. I'm planning to ask Jennifer's mom what she thinks. So far, I'm thinking of limiting it to Eastern NC musicians but I still can't decide whether it should be for just sax players or anyone. I may just limit it to Music Education folks, since that's initially what Jennifer wanted to do.
I remember being in band in high school. Jennifer was our drum major and she was a pain in my butt. She was mean!!!! But of course, we understood she had to be. But she was so excited to be the drum major. And she was good at it. She could look at Stephanie and I and be just as serious as she could be and tell us to shut up or to do something. We were her best friends yet she didn't think twice about getting on us just like she got on everyone else. She was meant to be a music teacher and I was a little disappointed when she told me she had decided to go into hospitality management. I thought she would have been an excellent band teacher. But hey, Jennifer could have went into anything and made it work and that's what she did. Even though she didn't end up in music, I still feel a music scholarship is perfect for her and when the scholarship idea came to me, I didn't hesitate to think music as opposed to anything else.
Work has been extra crazy the past few months and I have very little time to focus to much else. But I'm working so much now that my boss told me I could start taking days off during the week to make up for all the crazy hours I work at night and on weekends. Though I need the overtime, I'll probably take her up on that offer because I do need the extra time to work on this scholarship.
I'm thankful to work for someone who is so understanding and who I can talk to about just about anything. I've never had a boss like that before. It's one of the main reasons I've stayed here so long. The job itself can be very frustrating and if I worked for someone that I didn't like, I wouldn't have been able to do it for as long as I have. But having good co-workers and a good boss makes all the difference.
So hopefully, I can get this scholarship off the ground soon, at least the money part of it. I just have to stay focused and motivated.
No comments:
Post a Comment