North Carolina, Day 4

[kenjari]

September 26, 2006
I started my day nice and early with an 8:30 am interview with Stephen Jaffe, one of the composition professors. He was really quite nice and gave me a lot of good information about the program and also about the application. I think I managed to present myself well, too, although it's very hard for me to judge these things.
I ended up sitting in on Prof. Jaffe's class on Modernism in Music. It was an undergraduate class, so the material was nothing I hadn't heard before. But the point of going to classes when visiting a school is not to learn something, but to watch the professors in action. Plus, I had nothing else to do in the two hours before my mext interview.
After the class, I met with Tom Brothers, one of the musicology professors and the director of graduate studies for the music department. I didn't like him as much as Stephen Jaffe. We had a much shorter meeting, but it was still a useful session. Again, I think I presented myself fairly well. I just hopr I've made a good enough impression that I will be remembered favorably when my application is being reviewed.
After all the morning meetings, I met back up with Other Kenjari and then had lunch. We also went to the Sarah P. Duke botanical gardens, where we had a lovely walk among the plants and flowers. The weather is grogeous today, too. I have to keep reminding myself that it's September, because it feels so much more like June or July.
I finished up my visit to Duke by going to the first half of Scott Lindroth's computer music class. Professor Lindroth was also very nice and the class was quite good. So very much has changed since I last did electronic music back at WEsleyan. Now just about everything can be done from an average laptop.
I think the visit to Duke went very well and that I gave a favorable impression. Duke would be a good place for me - they've got just about everything I'm looking for. I also think I would be a good fit for them and that I could do very well there. I just hope that my application proves sufficiently impressive.
Other Kenjari and I had one more dinner with ashears. It's been so good to see her - we've missed her. With any luck, we won't be missing her for much longer.
North Carolina is not as "southern" as I was expecting, but it is nonetheless different from New England. People are generally more friendly - strangers will say hello and waitresses and store clerks are a lot friendlier and chattier. It's also the land of vanity plates. Driving on the hightway, I've seen way more of such plates in a few days than I ever see during whole years in Boston or Connecticut.
Tomorrow we head out to Asheville for hiking and other vacation stuff. I think we are going to take the more scenic and leisurely Blue Ridge Parkway.