Reflection

Looking back on this trip and remembering all the wonderful and eye opening things that happened is such a blessing. My personal goal coming into the trip was to not be shy around new people that ultimately want to help you. I feel like I successfully achieved this goal because I tried to put myself out there more than I usually would and even though it felt awkward at times, I got really positive results and learned a lot more than I would have by sitting in the background. One of my main personal goals now is to simply take care for my instrument more. Being a singer, your body is your instrument, and one must take care of it. I want to start eating better and working out regularly, and I feel like that will help with not only my health, but my confidence performing. My ultimate goal is to not just lose a little bit of weight, but do something that is life changing for the better. Ultimately, I just want to be healthy, and be able to be comfortable on a stage.

My professional goal changed throughout the trip, but I think I decided on being able to take direction, and be able to do things out of your comfort zone that you would normally never do in performance. When people have worked with me in the past, I was always very apprehensive to trying new things to make me better because I thought what I did was fine, and my routine shouldn't be changed. Now, I have learned many things that have helped my daily routine, like doing yoga, or focusing on words and what I am actually saying while I am singing. Overall,  a lot of the experiences I had in New York have opened my eyes, and have made me try things that have actually helped me a lot.

Jessica