8 December 2015

On to a New Stage in Life

OntoaNewStageinLife-1

My daughter Imogen has lots of passions, but her two biggest ones are music and writing. Sometimes I wonder which one is her greatest love. When she was deciding what she was going to study at university, it could have gone either way. But in the end, writing won out over music, and for the past three years, she’s been studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Publishing. A couple of weeks ago, Imogen completed her degree.

So what’s next for Imogen? Well, the first thing she wants to do is have a well-deserved Christmas break. But a break doesn’t mean she’s not going to be busy for the next few weeks. You see, Christmas is one of the biggest musical times of the year. And Imogen will be very involved with her second big passion: her singing.

Already the concerts have begun. Imogen performed at one last Sunday evening. This concert featured the talents of young performers in particular, and Imogen was given the opportunity to sing solo as well as with the choir.

I’d been hoping to attend the concert because I rarely get to hear Imogen sing. Well, that’s not quite true. She sings at home all the time, and she sings frequently on Sundays as a cantor at church. But all-dressed-up performance singing? That’s different.

I was all set to accompany Imogen, and my husband Andy, – he’s also a member of the choir – to the concert when one of my other daughters became unwell. So I stayed home to look after her. But that was okay. Sophie went along in my place and she recorded the concert for me. I got to see it on video.

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Sophie didn’t have a tripod, her camera mic could have been better, and there was a lady sitting in front of her obscuring part of her view, but she did her best. Just in case you’ve been following along with Imogen’s story and would like to watch the video, I’m going to post it here. The first few seconds are very wobbly because Sophie was moving into position, but it settles down, so keep watching. I hope you enjoy the music.

 

This morning, as I was thinking about this video, I had another idea: Why not interview Imogen about her university experience and her plans for the future.

“Hey, Imogen, can I interview you, please?”

“Sure!” (Isn’t she obliging?)

So Sophie got out her camera again and set it up on a tripod. And then I asked Imogen lots of questions about university, careers and dreams, and ended up with some interesting clips. If I manage to turn them into something presentable, I will post the video here on my blog (and on Youtube) in a day or two.

Can unschoolers get into university and graduate with a degree? It seems they can. Can they fulfil their dreams? Imogen is about to find out!

Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

11 Comments

  1. Beautiful! As a musician, writer, singer and mother of unschoolers this touched me on many levels. Tell Imogen I thought she sounded gorgeous!
    Jazzy Jack

    • Jazzy Jack,

      I'd love to hear more about your own experiences as a musician, writer and singer! Do your children have the same passions as you? How lovely it would be to share those with your children. I share writing with mine, but I have no musical ability. I do enjoy listening though!

      Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words!

    • Kelly,

      I had a few problems with my editing software. It kept crashing which was very frustrating! But I got the video done in the end. It's uploading to Youtube as I write this comment. Thank you for your interest in it!

  2. Congratulations Imogen!!!! What fantastic news! She is so young to be graduating from college!! Wow!.
    Good for her!

    Loved the video. Loved it. Sorry you did not get to be there in person…but wonderful that Sophie taped it for you!

    "See" you soon Sue!! Thanks for the peek into the beautiful music program!!

    • Chris,

      Thank you for the congratulations! I just read your comment to Imogen. She appreciates it very much. Thank you so much for watching the video. I'm glad you suggested we make one. It will be good to look back on in years to come.

      We haven't caught up properly for ages. We must swap news soon. Thank you for stopping by. I love exchanging comments with you, both here and on Facebook!

  3. That was lovely! Congratulations, Imogen!

    I am also a non-musical mother of musical children (although mine aren't at Imogen's level!), and I always find it amazing that God used me to create someone who can do such wonderful and (to me) mysterious things!

    • Wendy,

      Thank you! I totally understand your thoughts and feelings. When I watch my children perform, I wonder how I could possibly be their mother. I was once told I could be part of a school musical as long as I mimed and didn't actually sing. Oh my, that was disheartening. I assumed all my kids would be non-musical as well, and sometimes I think they can't possibly be talented. But I guess they are. Yes, it's amazing!

      I think there's a difference between being a proud mother and being in awe of what God can do. Music is such a gift, isn't it? It's a real blessing for our family, and I'm sure for yours as well.

      Lovely to chat as usual!

  4. A lovely voice coming from a lovely young woman. That was BEAUTIFUL! I'm going to show this to my daughter who loves to sing and is about to go through a busy next few weeks as she goes through choir auditions and rehearsals for an upcoming Christmas production. Looking forward to seeing the video interview!

    • Elizabeth,

      I hope your daughter is successful with her auditions. She will enjoy being part of the Christmas production, I'm sure! My children love working with other musicians. Music is such a wonderful thing to be involved with, whether performing or listening!

      Sophie used her DSLR camera on manual focus to record the video. I'm glad the quality turned out okay. An external mic would have enhanced the sound and picked up Imogen's diction a lot better, but we don't have one. Maybe a purchase for the future!

      The piece of music is called 'O Saviour Hear Me' by Gluck.

      Thank you for your very kind comment. I hope the video encourages your daughter to follow her dreams!

      I'm so glad you stopped by. Thank you!

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