Controlled Chaos

The previous week, according to many, was Homecoming Weekend.  Unfortunately for me, though, it was just one more week of “Graduate School Applications Semester.”  See, as a graduating senior, William & Mary has done an excellent job of preparing me for the future, but at around this point the baton is handed back to me and the rest of my class, the Class of 2009.  It’s time for us to make the next step happen.

“Come on, Andy, it’s time to get on top of those psychology applications,” the statues of Botetourt and Blair whisper to me as I walk across campus.  “Make us proud.”

I’ve done my best to heed their call: requesting transcripts be sent here and there, drafting copy after copy of a professional statement, and so forth.  Of course, the academic world does not build in enough time for the present, much less the future, and classes go on– it took me a whole day, for instance, to find out the final score of our Homecoming football game because I spent the entire duration of the game in McGlothlin-Street Hall’s computer lab, working on a programming assignment with my partner.

Hard work, though, as any William & Mary student can attest, makes the enjoyable moments even more rewarding.  Just the night before, the William & Mary Wind Symphony, my favorite music ensemble on campus, performed its annual Homecoming and Alumni Concert.  Musicians of all classes, ranging from 2008 to 1960, were in attendance to share their experiences as students, make new friends, and unite musically to produce one terrific sound.  When it came time to play the Alma Mater at the end of the performance, there was no doubt as to what the college experience at William & Mary meant to everyone involved, whether in the audience or on stage.

So as the senior class frets over what to make of the upcoming months, it’s the little things that are keeping everyone going.  One of my top moments of the weekend, again music-related, was watching my good buddy Jack perform a bass trombone solo with the Wham Bam Big Band as part of Swem Library’s “Ringing Far and Near: Student Music and Song” event.  I was lucky enough to be able to record the performance, which I’m proud to share with you here:

Summertime from Andy DeSoto on Vimeo