Hello, newly admitted students and families!
Congratulations on your admission to the IU Jacobs School of Music! I’m so excited to get to talk a little bit about my Jacobs experience with you! My name is Emma Griffiths, and I’m a current sophomore pursuing a double major in Choral Music Education and Vocal Performance. You probably already met me during check-in, student panels, or tours for your audition weekend, so I’m sure I’ve talked to some of you already! Every audition weekend, I end up reflecting upon my own audition experience here, and I remember being so, so nervous leading up to my audition. Jacobs and IU had been on my radar for music school since seventh grade, and I remember pulling up to check-in on the day of my audition and realizing that I was about to audition at my dream school.
My journey to studying here is one that I think really speaks to the culture and the community of Jacobs. The funny thing about my Jacobs audition was that I had already auditioned and been accepted to another music school, and I had accepted their offer of admission by the time I auditioned at IU. I hadn’t expected to hear back from the other university so soon, but I had networked with their faculty and students enough to know that I could probably find a place there. Despite this, I still intended to “shoot my shot” at my dream school and keep my audition date, even though I had technically committed to a different university. I mean, seriously, I had everything worked out to go there: scholarships, housing, dining plans, and a bunch of other college freshman details. However, after my audition at Jacobs, something just felt off about my decision, especially since it would be taking me away from the school I’d dreamed about since middle school. The current students, faculty, and Student Ambassadors that I met during my audition weekend were so welcoming and talked so much about the close-knit community of music students. I just remember walking to the MA for my audition and seeing little groups of people everywhere talking and laughing on the music sidewalk. I had this feeling of wanting to be part of that community, to know what they were talking and laughing about in between classes.
Long story short, I’m writing this blog post now, so clearly, I didn’t end up going to that other university. After receiving my acceptance letter to Jacobs, I did a complete college 360 and committed to IU. I firmly believe that my experiences during that freezing cold February audition weekend played a key role in my final decision to pursue music here, and so many wonderful things have come into my life because of that decision. I actually met my now-best friend Addy at audition weekend as we were standing outside of the audition room making small talk as we waited to audition. There is a picture of us standing across the hall from each other talking on our audition day, a picture that means so much now after two years of living together as roommates and best friends. Addy ended up introducing me to Izzy, another Student Ambassador here, after meeting her during New Student Orientation, and next month, Izzy and I will be doing a combined sophomore recital together. The way things work out is funny sometimes, but I am of the belief that all of these little coincidences were just meant to be.
All of this is to say that choosing to come to Jacobs was a journey for me, but I don’t regret my decision to study here. The community of people in the school of music always has your back and will be supportive of your individual growth as a musician and human being, no matter where you go post-graduation. I know that I probably could have been happy at that other university and still had positive experiences, but I truly believe that IU is where I was meant to end up. I have found my place here amongst my peers here and a home in Bloomington with them. This school has given me so many wonderful experiences and growth opportunities, which I’m very thankful for, but I’m most thankful for the people it has brought into my life.
Congratulations, again, on your acceptance to the Jacobs School of Music, and I hope to welcome you back to campus in the fall!
Best wishes,
Emma
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