As the school year begins again, we begin to be plagued with many assignments simultaneously. We have to create goals to complete these assignments. I have already missed a day of school and have many things to catch up on, but I digress. As you may remember from last September, I created a blog post about S.M.A.R.T goals for our first semester. We were challenged to do so again this year. In case you may have forgotten, a S.M.A.R.T goal is a goal that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. It has been difficult to come up with ideas of things I would like to achieve after being on summer break for so long, but after some deep thought I have come up with two. (gif credit to https://samemaze.tumblr.com) My first goal I’d like to achieve is to take more responsibility for my learning--even outside of academy. As I enter grade 11, I hear from more and more people that this is the hardest school year which worries me just a bit. This semester I am balancing chemistry, English 20-1, and social 20-1. Some of the ways I will be working towards completing this goal are actively doing homework as soon as possible after it is assigned, seeing teachers before or after school to seek extra help if need be, and making school the priority instead of other extra-curricular activities. I will spend 30 minutes or more (if needed) after school, on weekends, or whenever I have homework to complete this task. As well, I will actively be reviewing my notes that have been taken during class outside of school hours. I will know that this goal is accomplished at the end of semester 1 if my grades are 75% or higher and if I am not struggling in the classes. It may leave me feeling a bit like this: But I digress. Now that I have a goal for regular life outside of the academy, this one is finally music related. It is to get at least 1 song recorded, mixed, and produced by the end of this semester. It’s a bit of a large task since the music I am planning to create this year is very intricate but with the proper planning, I am certain I can achieve it. (gif credit goes to https://tenor.com) The steps I am going to take to complete this task are: making sure that the song I am planning to finish is fully written and that I have everything prepared before entering the studio, being certain that all of my assignments are completed before spending my time in the studio, and seeking proper feedback from my peers to see if I can improve anything before the song is complete. I will spend 1.5 hours per week in the studio working towards the completion of this song. It will take me approximately 4-5 weeks to finish. I am planning to have this song be about 5 minutes long. I am very excited to see the results of this goal. As it turns out, even though I have struggled through the task of creating S.M.A.R.T goals in the past, nothing has changed! It is still incredibly difficult to set goals for yourself, but those are some of the challenges you have to face not only through high school, but in life. It’s just like how arrows have to pull back to shoot forwards. We have to face challenges to progress and become our best selves. I know that deep thinking can make us feel a little bit like Homer to our left so lets steer away from that. I believe that these goals will help me both academically and musically. They will help me become more organized with my studies and help me use my time wisely, as well as help me further my knowledge of recording equipment & software. (gif credit to http://blog.valorebooks.com) I am really looking forward to seeing how the new school year will progress and what exciting opportunities will unfold. To everyone who has also started school, good luck, focus on your studies, and manage your time well. Any questions, comments, or concerns about myself or my music can be expressed in the comments below. To hear my recent music, check out my Spotify or Soundcloud. Until next time. -Angelina Robert, musician and artist
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Good morning/ afternoon! I hope everyone is doing well & recovering from the chaos of the holidays. As semester one comes to close, we must take a moment to recall the events that happened within these past six months. I haven't written a blog post in quite some time, so let's see if I've still got it in me. Artistically, the school year so far has allowed me to expand my horizons and do things that, as a musician, I haven't been able to achieve in the past. For example, performing in front of large crowds (Remembrance Day, Celebration of Learning), or recording with professional software & equipment. From a Language Arts standpoint, I have learned how to write blog posts successfully, and how to research effectively. Musically, I have learned how to use Logic Pro X (for the most part--there are just too many buttons and options that its a bit overwhelming to me still), and how to take multiple songs and mash them into one. The majority of this semester had me feeling like this: (Gif credits to https://www.pinterest.com/pin/275001120967233632/ and https://giphy.com/gifs/the-simpsons-computer-confused-citBl9yPwnUOs) Looking back at my S.M.A.R.T goal, I'm realizing how much time I wasted instead of pushing to complete them. A lot of time was spent binge watching shows on Netflix. In fact, I actually completely forgot about them after October passed. Unfortunate, I know. I don't even think I finished one song in that entire time period--Instead spending that time doing other music composition assignments. Balancing math, science, english & music is a difficult task to say the least. Now that all of my difficult courses are over with, I am going to push myself to finish an album by June (considering it is an option for a final project in the academy) but I digress. My personal S.M.A.R.T goal went over quite well though. I have been helping a bit more around my house which, I assume, is making my Mom's life considerably easier. She's a bit more of a happy camper now. Semester one has been a unique experience for me. One significant event that I am extremely happy about getting the opportunity to partake in was the Remembrance Day ceremony. I performed Imagine by John Lennon with my brother Daniel Robert on bass, and classmates Dayna Kindermann on violin, Dylan Watson on acoustic guitar, and Jevon Winger on drums. I sang and played the piano. It was such a great experience for me, performing in front of around 1,000 people. Doing sound check made me understand even more why I'd like to be a musician for a living. It's really fun for me every time. It never gets old. I stepped out of my comfort zone and took a risk agreeing to do that, and I haven't felt a shred of regret about it at all. I'm proud of all of us for having the courage to get up to that stage and perform as well as we did.
Although there are many positive things I can say about last semester, there were many challenges going through it. To start, as I mentioned before, balancing the difficult courses with music was very challenging. I always had homework and for most projects in music, it was almost impossible to get them in on time. It hurts to say, but last semester, music was definitely not my number one priority. Not to say that the assignments were extremely difficult, there was just a lot of pressure I put on myself to get everything done in a timely matter. There were definitely hiccups along the road. The most significant were not having the proper space to record, and not having time to do it at school. Between watching History of Rock N' Roll movies (taking up nearly 2 work periods) and having limited computer time, things got challenging. I overcame them though and luckily that is all behind me. I'm definitely ready to start fresh again.
For this next semester, starting on January 30th, 2019 (today) I am setting a goal for myself to actually get assignments in on time (if not in earlier than the due date), and to work much harder than the last semester. This goes for all of my classes. I've finally realized how serious this year's grades are and I'm now working quite hard to maintain my honour roll status. I'm also setting the goal to make an entire full length album that I produce and record in WH Croxford's studio. It will benefit me in that I can use professional equipment for the low price of $0, and help me to further understand the software. This will allow me to publish it professionally and really motivate me as a musician to keep going instead of getting lazy. It tends to get that way over summer break, but I'll try my hardest to make sure that doesn't happen. To say the least, I'm looking forward to semester two and the opportunities that may come along with it. Good luck to anyone else going into the second semester. Make the most of it. Any questions, comments, or concerns you may have about my music/ progress can be printed below in the comment section. I would love to hear feedback from you all. -Angelina Robert, musician and founder of the band Safe Claim Good morning/ afternoon! It's me, Angelina again. In my last blog post, I went into detail about my current English assignment regarding S.M.A.R.T. goals. Today I will be displaying the progress I have made since last week. In the past week, I have really challenged myself to meet my goal in a timely matter - sooner than the dates that the goals were to be completed. Currently for my personal goal, I have four items on my list. Much more than I had initially estimated this soon! Additionally, I haven't been able to make it into the studio. A bit of a bummer, if you ask me. On the bright side, one song is better than none. Excuses are such a bore to listen to, but the reason I haven't had the time to write as much music as I used to is because I'm attempting to work ahead in all of my core classes. I'm doing this because an ultimate goal outside of these set goals is to graduate next year alongside my best friend Leah Hooper (https://lkhooperart.weebly.com), who is a year older than me. She is enrolled in the WHC Visual Arts & Media academy. Going ahead would mean completing my 10-1 classes in the first semester and into 20-1 classes in the second semester. Without a doubt it's exciting stuff that I'm looking forward to learning, but it's one heck of a work load. It feels like this simultaneously: (Gifs credited to Gihpy.com) Nonetheless, I'm just hoping I can get all 100 high school credits (and perhaps any extra) before the end of next school year. A big task, sure, but when there's a will, there's a way. Although I have begun tracking my personal goal, I haven't exactly done much for my musical goal. At some point this week I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have an opportunity to work in the school's studio so I can get a start on collecting demo clippings & progress videos as I said I would in my last blog post.
As a whole, I'm quite proud of my quick progression within these goals. It has been surprisingly fun doing extra little things around my house, and seeing my Mom's face light up when she sees that the dishes, for example, already done for her.
I forgot to mention that I've come to learn that writing blog posts is actually very relaxing and honestly pretty enjoyable. Writing is definitely my strong suit and I'm so happy I have the ability & opportunity to do that here. Any questions, comments, or concerns you may have about my music/ progress can be expressed below in the comment section. I would love to hear feedback! -Angelina Robert, musician and founder of the band Safe Claim Good morning/ afternoon! This is my first blog post and I'm very excited to begin recording my musical process, as well as my achievements as a student & a musician. In English class, my teacher has challenged us to create and pursue a S.M.A.R.T goal, which is a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. We were assigned to create two goals - one for ourselves as people, and another that relates to our option (music, drama, or art). She explained to us that these goals had to have been met by January thirty-first of 2019. For my personal goal, I have challenged myself to help more around my house. Whether that be doing extra chores, or even cleaning without being asked. I chose this as my first goal because my mother isn't home most of the time, and I feel that me doing these extra things would help her out immensely. To measure my progress, I will take a note every time I do something I wouldn't typically do on a daily basis. By our deadline, I am hoping to have a minimum of 10 items on my list. As a teenager, life can get exceptionally busy with school, friends, and family matters, but I feel that this goal fits perfectly with the outline we are to be following. From a musical standpoint, it has indeed been quite difficult for me to think up a second S.M.A.R.T goal to follow & reach for the next 4 or so months. I more or less felt like this while attempting to form one: T All jokes aside, after finally figuring out a goal, I realized that it would benefit me personally as well as musically. The goal I finally boiled down to was producing at least 3 original songs by the end of January. You're probably wondering "why would this benefit her personally?". Well, the answer to that is simple - it would allow me to expand my knowledge of audio software and recording equipment. To go along with that, it would also allow me to step out of my comfort zone and create music I would have never imagined myself making. For example, I would love to craft a song with that mid-to-late sixties psychedelic vibe. Think 'Flaming' by Pink Floyd, or 'Strawberry Fields Forever' by the Beatles. I've been very invested in sixties and seventies culture for the past few months, and have completely fallen in love with the music to go along with it, but I digress. The main reason I chose this as my musical goal is because I plan to release an EP or a full length album by the end of the school year. Around late June would be my estimate. The way I plan to track this progress is by taking notes, pictures, & demo clippings of the progress of each song, and compiling them into a vlog, which will then be posted on my YouTube channel at the end of the first semester, when this assignment is due. To conclude, creating S.M.A.R.T goals is challenging, and so is formatting a blog post. Not to mention attempting to get back into the school mindset after a long summer break. I will keep everyone posted about my progress and possible struggles throughout the 4 months we have to complete this. If you'd like to hear my existing work, visit my Soundcloud, or my personal YouTube channel.
If you have any questions or concerns about my progress, feel free to comment below. I'd love to hear your feedback! -Angelina Robert, musician & founder of the band 'Safe Claim' |
Angelina RobertShe has a passion for everything that has to do with art and music. To find out more, go to her 'About' page. Archives
June 2021
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