Day 26

Wow,  so much has happened in the past 48 hours!  I'm going to put all of the requirements at the top, and if you're interested, you can keep reading for more details.  

Daily Practice
Time: 30 mins +
Songs: A Whole New World and Fallin' for You
Description: I went to Ripley Grier and went through some old recordings of tech class and private lessons.  I practiced A Whole New World to get ready for the Disney audition.  It felt good to sing full out and not worry about when my roommates were going to wake up or come home.  I was able to perform the song 3 times without any cracks or mistakes, so I felt confident going into my audition.

Live Vocal Performance

Venue: Paddy Reilly's Open Mic
Song Performed: Fallin' for You








Demo Recording
Location: Moon Lab Studios
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBw5uKWx-B8




NYC Industry Audition


Disney's Cruise Line and Theme Parks
Song: A Whole New World







Charitable Deed 5

Job Application Assistance
Description: "Empower adults with barriers to employment as they search for jobs and apply for positions online at Employment Service Center- an organization designed to assist public assistance recipients in moving from welfare to employment."

Note: It would have been really inappropriate to take pictures in this environment, but here's the packet of employment websites we were given to help guide our job search.




Healthy Meals 41 and 42

Breakfast- Kashi cereal and Activia yogurt


Lunch- Grilled teriyaki chicken and steamed vegetables








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Here are some more details about the activities listed above:

Live Performance

So this was my first open mic, and I was completely freaked out.  The bar, Paddy Reilly's, did not have a cover charge, but they did require a 2 drink minimum for performers.  Perfect!  I'll be honest, I used their drink mandate as an aid to help me relax before I took the stage.  :)  The performance went well.  The crowd was extremely relaxed and welcoming.  One girl playing an acoustic guitar told the audience that she had an intricate song that she hadn't put words to yet, and she had never played it in public before, but she just wanted to practice playing it in front of people.  Everyone cheered loudly and encouraged her to do her thing.  It was such a cool experience.  No one was there to judge; it was just an inviting space for artists to practice performing and share their craft.  I want to start going there every week-- there's no reason not to!  Even if I haven't fully 'perfected' a song, it will still be great practice to get up on a stage every week, sing into a microphone, and get over my nerves.

NYC Industry Audition

Sylvia and I waiting to be seen!

I went to the open call for Disney's Cruise Line and Theme Parks; they were casting for princes and princesses.  After warming up at Ripley Grier studios next door, I showed up to Pearl Studios at 9:30 to sign up for the 10:00 call.  I was #138.  I waited there for 3 hours when they said they were going to take a lunch break.  I asked the assistant what time they were going to return from lunch, and he said 1:50pm.  I went and grabbed lunch myself, and at 1:30 my friend texted me saying that they were calling my name and I was missing my turn.  Awesome.  So I ran through the streets of the city, knocking over wandering tourists and sprinting through flashing crosswalks.  I told the auditioning monitor what happened, and she was kind enough to squeeze me into the front of the next group.  I think it worked out perfectly because my mini crisis distracted me from my normal performance anxiety.  I practically stepped off the elevator and went straight into my audition.

Erin and I... still waiting!

I personally think the audition went well... for me.  I wasn't ultimately chosen to be a princess, but I sang the whole song without the 'shakes'.  And I got into my character and stayed in it the whole time.  I wasn't thinking about middle voice vs. mix voice, or when to breathe, or any other technical issue; I just performed.  Finally!  I came out of the room grinning; I'm sure people thought that I had gotten chosen, but it just felt so amazing to finally perform to the best of my ability, and not get overtaken by nerves (flashback to my a cappella audition disaster circa two weeks ago).  Hooray for growth! 



Demo Recording

Did I mention that I love him!

After my audition, I rushed to Brooklyn for my very first recording session.  Ugh, I'm in love with Lane.  There I said it.  This man is a GENIUS!  I wasn't sure how the whole process would work, and I was nervous that I was going to be so amateur compared to the artists that he's used to working with, but he made the experience painless... and actually quite enjoyable.  Once he had the background track of my song in his computer, he took me to the recording booth.  It was maybe twice the size of a phone booth.  I couldn't see anything but the microphone in front of me, so I communicated to Lane through that mic and the headphones.  I started by singing the song all the way through about 3 times.  Then he let me listen to it, and we'd decide if we could use one of the 3 takes of if there was a line or two that I should just sing over again.  He was so fast!  I would re-sing a section, and within 2 seconds it was smoothly spliced into the original song.  It was incredible.  Anyways, I've never done anything like that before, and I'm so glad that I was pushed to do it through this challenge.

Charitable Deed
I don't want to bring the mood down, but I can't just brush over this.  Most of charitable work that I did throughout the challenge was really encouraging, and got me excited about the progress that's being made in the city.  Unfortunately I didn't reach the same level of euphoria with my final project.  As stated before, the purpose of this project was to work with citizens on public assistance in helping them apply for jobs.  We were told that we would be partnered up with a candidate and that our goal was to help him apply to at least 2 jobs during the hour or so that we were there.

I was paired with Mike (I won't use his real name, just for privacy purposes).  I asked Mike to tell me about his work history so I knew what type of experience he had and what type of work we should look for.  He said that he had experience doing electrical and construction work.  He had worked in construction for the city of New York for the past 13 years, but he was fired for drinking on the job.  He has a felony on his record which he has to report on most applications.  I asked him how he felt about that, and he said that he wishes he could just talk to them face to face so he could own up to his mistakes, but also show that he's has learned from them and he's not the 'devil'.  He said that when people just look at him on paper-- having a felony and being fired from his last job-- he's sure they just see him has the 'devil'.  He actually used that term multiple times throughout my time there.  It broke my heart.

We started looking at one of the career websites, but I quickly realized that Mike had limited computer skills.  He typed with one finger, was clumsy with the mouse, and didn't know any of the basic short cuts that I had forgotten were even shortcuts.  For example, instead of double-clicking on an icon on the desktop, he would click on it once, wait for the drop down menu to appear, then click 'Open'.  During our time together, I taught him how to 'attach' a file, how to 'drag' the mouse, and how to 'copy' and 'paste'.  He was so grateful and eager to learn new tricks.

But let's cut to the chase.  Applying for jobs online is miserable enough in itself.  There are times when I've spent an hour on Craigslist, and when I looked back at my Sent emails, I had applied to over 30 jobs at a time, and I was lucky if I heard back from 1. With Mike's limited computer skills, he was only applying to 2 jobs in the same amount of time!  Furthermore, I could tell that he was getting discouraged reading some of the job descriptions.  With over 25 years of experience, Mike is actually highly qualified for most of the construction jobs that we found, and he seemed extremely knowledgeable about all of the technical terms listed in the requirements, but a lot of companies are now asking for candidates to take certain courses and get officially certified in various specializations-- some of the courses lasting only 2 or 3 days; the problem is Mike can't afford these courses-- some of them as low as $60. And then of course you add the felony and substance abuse on his record, making him the 'devil' to his potential employers, and we have the perfect storm.  The way I see it, it's only a matter of time before Mike gets fed up with the process-- he's doing everything right to try to get back on his feet-- but I just don't know how effective this current system is.

So I don't have solutions or closure, I'm just sharing my experience with you.  I worry for Mike.  I worry that if he doesn't get some sign of hope soon, he may just stop trying, and then where do you think he'll end up?  He reminded me of some of the teenagers that I taught back in Houston.  They worked SO HARD, but their grades still wouldn't budge.  It was our job to keep them motivated and keep refining their skills until they reached the success they deserved.  I only had about 2 hours with Mike, so I thought the best, most effective thing I could do during our time together, was fill him up with hope.  I wanted him to know that as a 'professional', I believed in him.  So I found everything that he was doing well, and repeatedly expressed my approval.  I told him that his resume looked sharp, and I could tell that he put a lot of time in it.  I pointed out that he has 5+ years in every job that he had listed which looks great to employers because they know he can stay in a job for an extended period of time.  I highlighted the wording in his cover letter that really colored a positive picture of his character and work ethic.  And I affirmed him in all the knowledge he was rattling off about electrical and construction techniques.  I wanted him to know that he was more than qualified for all of these positions, so that when he does get an interview, he can walk in there with confidence about his abilities.

When our time was up, I could tell that I reached my goal.  Mike thanked me profusely for teaching him the computer tricks, and more importantly for telling him how 'good' he was doing.  He said that I really made him feel good about himself.  I guess that's all I can ask for during a 2 hour meeting, but I left Mike personally feeling discouraged-- not understanding how two lives can inhabit the same environment and be so drastically different; so drastically unequal.  What did I do to deserve the life that I have?  I spend my days worrying about hitting the right notes at a Disney audition while people like Mike are living this other reality.  It just doesn't seem right, and I don't know how to make it right...

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All in all, this has been an incredibly transforming 48 hours, and I continue to be thankful for the ways in which this silly little voice challenge is changing my life and shaping my character.