Visiting Northwestern: Part Two (aka After "The Ordeal")

You know those people who can either list all of the Presidents of the United States in one breath, or who can name all 50 states in one breath? Revisiting our visit to Northwestern feels like that to me. There's just so much to say, and I want to say it quickly enough that everybody will read the entire story. So, inhale....

After Mark and I got to the hotel at 9 a.m. (see the previous post if you haven't already), we headed to get some breakfast. Mark was casually and thoroughly enjoying all that the hotel had to offer while I was beginning to stress about all that I wanted him to do on this trip.

An interesting aside here. Both of my boys have mentioned to me over the years that they wonder what it would be like to take a vacation where the main priority is relaxation. Mark thought that he might find out on this trip, but I had other things in mind :-)

At the breakfast table, I asked him what "optional" things he thought he might like to do. Attending a German class was not on his list. At 9:15, I couldn't stand it anymore, and I told him that I thought it was important that he attend the one free German class at 10 a.m. He looked at me like I was crazy, the main problem being that he didn't think he would remember his German.

Wait....what?

While Mark continued to casually pour the dough for his second waffle, I reminded him that he had spoken more German than English for over six years of his life. There was no possible way that he would forget his German, and would he please stuff the remaining half of the waffle in his mouth while I ran up and washed the Philadelphia airport slime off of my body? I ran upstairs (figuratively mind you--the boot is still in existence) and hoped that Mark was right behind me.

At 9:50, Mark was running out of the hotel with shoes, belt, coat and horn in hand, and we were off! We circled the Northwestern campus, trying to find the closest parking place to the Kresge building as possible. Anybody who knows universities knows that there is never a close parking spot let alone a parking spot at all. I gave him a copy of the campus map, literally threw him out of the car onto a major street and told him to text me when he made it to class. Needless to say, Mark attended the German class that I wanted him to attend :-)

Turns out, he was the STAR of the class. Duh! Mark came back to the car just beaming! The kids had been so nice to him, as well as the teacher, and he had definitely been able to show off his phenomenal German-speaking skills in German 102. In fact, it was a conversation class, and the other students had fun practicing their German-speaking skills, talking about Mark to each other and asking him questions!

The class was done at 11:00, and the music information session began at 11:30. Thankfully, I found a meter close by and we headed in. For those of you who aren't musicians, a fun thing to do amongst musicians is to guess what instrument other musicians play. I hate to say it, but there are definitely stereotypes that go along with different instruments. Flutists are pretty easy, but knowing that a flutist reads this blog, I probably better keep those details under

wraps :-) Composition majors are generally a mixture of kooky and arrogant, and Mark picked one out of the crowd with no problem. Voice majors are very apparent also, especially sopranos. One thing Mark really liked during the entire campus visit was the ratio of women to men that he saw everywhere. Lots of women in the information session, not very many men!

This whole process has been a very serious undertaking for Mark. Over the last few months, he has upped his practice hours from 1 hour a day to 2-3 hours a day. His lessons have gone from every three weeks in Philadelphia to every week in Philadelphia. We have visited several horn teachers at different schools, testing them out. I was amazed to see kids who were very non-commital. "Well, I'm thinking about majoring in either clarinet, or psychology." Seriously? If you're planning on auditioning on clarinet, you would know it now and be preparing night and day. Some were asking if they actually had to audition. Seriously?

Anyway, Mark's application to Northwestern is already complete and turned in, so we had no worries as we listened to the other students asking every specific question about the application and the audition process. In fact, I think either Mark or I could have answered the majority of the questions :-)

Then, from the 150 different restaurants within a five-block area, Mark chose to go to Burger King. Enough said, although I did think the little, tiny older Mexican woman who waited on us was adorable. I couldn't understand anything she asked me, but who cares when she is so cute?

We headed back to the hotel so that Mark could warm up. Poor Mark. With the crazy night that we had, he was just exhausted. I can never help snapping a picture of Mark when he falls asleep while practicing (I think it's amazing that it actually happens enough times that I have multiple pictures of him doing this!)

After that came the big kahunas: the lesson with Gail Williams. There aren't words to describe this woman. She can't be more than 5' 4" but she has the personality of someone much larger! Mark was intimidated beyond belief to meet her, and I think he was the most nervous of all of the lessons he's set up. She showed up late (coming from another rehearsal in another building), and she was decked out in a coat and scarf and carrying bags, a backpack and her horn. She whisked him away into her office, and an hour later, she opened the door and invited me in.

Yes, Gail Williams invited me into her office.

This is the first time that any of the teachers have done this, and I was completely caught off guard. When I walked in, there was a piano sitting right there by the door, complete with a piano bench. Guess where I sat? Exactly where I felt the most comfortable :-) She asked me if I had any questions. Yeah, I couldn't think of one. Instead I just sat there like a deer in the headlights. However, I can't remember how the conversation got started again, but it did, and I was able to tell her even more about Mark.

She really, really liked him from what I can gather. It wasn't so much what she said, but how she acted. Mark told me that she asked him all about himself, and she was so happy that he is also a proficient singer (and as earned as many, if not more awards, for singing than for playing the horn). She's a firm believer in a well-rounded musician which Mark is. Then, she got talking about Adam Unsworth (a former student and the teacher at Michigan) and how she got him running marathons with her. Lucky Mark, I brought up the fact that Mark had run two half-marathons, and her jaw dropped. Then, she got talking about my boot, and the fact that she keeps needing to go to the doctor after her 15-mile hikes!

Yes, she has an ego, but deservedly so. I know that the adjective "amazing" is thrown around a lot, but there really is no other word to describe her. She is amazing.

After that, Mark and I headed back to the Kresge building where he had set up an interview with the department chair of the German department. Since I had already received a $50 parking ticket from Mark's lesson (I even left a note on the dashboard explaining my handicapped situation), there was no way I was parking again, so Mark went alone. About 45 minutes later he came back, and told me that the interview was great. The guy loved him, answered all of Mark's questions and even wrote down his name. Woot!

We went back to the hotel, slept for an hour, woke up and met Elder Oborn and his companion in downtown Chicago (see post below this one for a recap of that).

By the end of the day, Mark knew exactly where he wanted to go to school, and the school's colors are not maize and blue :-( It had been the most incredible day for Mark, and it only got better in the morning.

Thankfully, we slept in a bit and then got up to go to the general campus information session and tour. The day was just gorgeous. Sunny, but cool. Leaves changing color across campus. Views across Lake Michigan.

Northwestern is an anomaly. It is situated in Evanston, a small, upscale town along the shores of Lake Michigan, but it's only 30 minutes from Chicago. The buildings are the most architecturally interesting and beautiful of any campus we've visited. The grounds are gorgeous, and the students are friendly. I told Mark that it would take a boozing slackard to NOT want to attend that school, because I could see anybody and everybody fitting in there.

For lunch, it was Five Guys (another HUGE selling point for Mark)! I have never seen a Five Guys that had so many people in it. All colors of people, all ages, families and singles, students and people from the community. That restaurant was ALIVE!

Afterwards, we found a hole in the wall that sold Northwestern attire. Mark had a hard time deciding between all of the different hats, shirts and sweatshirts, but in true Mark fashion, he selected bright purple sweatpants :-)

At 8:00, we headed back to campus one last time for the premiere event of the weekend. In fact, when we were originally scheduling this trip, we chose this weekend for this performance. Gail Williams was performing Schumann's Konzertstueck for 4 horns with the University Chamber Orchestra.From what we could see, it looked like she had one graduate student playing Horn II, and two undergraduates playing Horn III and IV. They were the opening act for the concert. When the orchestra first came out, Mark spotted several kids that he knew from Interlochen! He was really excited, until he realized that they had all sat first chair at Interlochen, and then the intimidation factor returned a bit. However, everything faded away with the first notes from the horns.

At the end of the piece, Mark turned to me and pulling out what little hair he has, and said, "I have just got to get into this school!" Agreed.

We headed back to the hotel, and while I watched Michigan get slaughtered by Penn State, Mark hung out in the bathroom and wrote an essay for school. Welcome back, Reality.

There really is something very special about Northwestern for Mark. Of the five schools that he has visited (and to which he is applying), this is his one "stretch" school. However, I think that Mark has the whole package, and I think that is going to set him apart. Of course, the application doesn't really matter that much for any music school. What it's all going to come down to is the audition. In January.

Dun, dun, dun....

He can do it--I just know that he can.

Inhale....