life at eiu

It’s that time of year again. Trees are all barren; snow is in and out… it’s cold, very cold. That means one thing to me, finals! Since this is my first year here and I have to adapt to this new form of finals. It shouldn’t be too bad, because most of my classes are easy enough to handle.

Let’s talk about what has happened since the last time I posted. Since then I am part of the Jazz program here at EIU, playing the drum set in the Jazz Lab Band, under the direction of the one and only Paul Johnston, if you don’t know who he is, you have really missed out on a great instructor and person. Check him out (and the band) out next time we have a concert.

I am in the Percussion Ensemble, which takes up a lot of my so-called "free" time. We just had our first concert of the year and it went really well. Mr. Jamie Ryan has taken over the position of instructing the percussion majors and minors and thus far, I am very pleased with his ability to play, but his ability to teach is great as well. So, if you are interested in coming here for percussion, I would definitely talk to him.

Overall, I am very pleased with all of the faculty here, especially in the music department. Barry Houser is fantastic at his job as the Marching Band Director and Basketball Band Director. He brings a welcoming spirit to all involved and has the energy of a 5 year old, in my personal opinion, I don’t think he sleeps… just a thought. And Mr. Johnston and Mr. Ryan are both fantastic instructors. Dr. Borah, my professor for both music theory and aural training is wonderful, he really knows how to talk to students and makes the material understandable.
So like I said earlier, about a dozen times, the faculty here is AMAZING I can’t stress that enough, they are one of the many reasons I love this school.
That’s all for now…
-Jake