Flashback

I am not sure that anyone from my college days actually reads my blog - but as I am sitting here preparing for my class tomorrow night - where I will be discussing everything from Bach, to Mozart, to the way Beethoven developed the sonata and broke all the rules and all that jazz - I am flashing back to days at the good ole University of Montevallo, the days spent just listening to these sonatas, symphonies, and concerti while trying to make up some words to them so that when I got into the listening quiz I would remember which one belonged to which composer... the days sitting on the loading dock of the Music building, taking a practice break and standing there with my smoking friends - I never smoked, but those days carried enough second hand smoke to make anyone's lungs turn black. We discussed a bit of everything sitting on that loading dock. I loved the spring time when I could just sit there for a while, after spending hours in a clostrophobic practice room, and for just a moment, close my eyes and let the sun hit my face in the afternoon.
I remember half my music classes being taught by Dr. Bean... oh what would us Pedagogy students have done without him... and who can begin to say enough good about Dr. Rob - my favorite professor of all time - that man was not only a genius when it came to music, he also put a passion for music into each of us. Just watching him as he listened to music, or having a conversation in his office - it meant the world to me. I remember once, when I was struggling with coming up with information about a particular piece of music I had chosen for a Piano Literature class - I had to do a 50 minute presentation on it, and I couldn';t even find a recording. It had only been recorded once in history, and the CDs costed a ridiculous amount of money. I sat down with Dr. Rob (it wasn't even his class) and by the end of the conversation, he had given me his copy of the CD to use in my preparation, as well as a stack of books about that composer and that particular piece - books that weren't in the library! I got an A on that project and went directly to him to thank him!
Being a small school, and small music program, all the profs knew us by name, by face - and as much as it frustrated us all at the time, they knew when we missed their class - Some would call us, some would come downstairs to the "practice dungeon" to make sure all was well - regardless, if we didnt want them to know we had intentionally skipped their class, we better not be in that building at all that day!

All this just to reminisce for a little while - while I don't miss the days of the exams, the stress of presentations, the nightmares I still have about keyboard harmony class... (yes, I still wake up panicked at times because i dream i am late) - I do remember sitting one day in a theory class and realizing that I was living a dream - I had dreamed of studying music... and there i was, with tons of lines and spaces, dots and flags in front of me. I was studying music... sometimes it seemed like more music than I ever wanted... but I was doing it...

Anyway, on this rainy afternoon, what is it that you remember from 8-10 years ago that maybe you miss... or maybe you don't - but what is it that certain smells, sounds, and thoughts take you back to?