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The Confident Musicianing Podcast
How to genuinely be interested in your classes
Of course there are classes that we love, but some can seem a bit 'meh.' Today we are talking about how you can put that spark into your classes and create genuine interest and curiosity.
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But if you think about something that maybe you enjoy, whatever that is, try and connect it. Hello and welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast. My name is Eleanor and I am a British-American oboist studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Literally my dream school and it took me a long way to get there. I applied and auditioned for 12 schools in three different countries. It was a lot of hard work but, oh my gosh, so worth it. I want you to have the confidence to work hard in achieving your goals. So come with me as we go on this journey together. So sit down, pull up a chair, take a seat or, if you're on the go, welcome to the Confident Musicianing Podcast.
Speaker 1:I used to be interested in some of my classes at school and I'm going to be honest. Some other classes I was not as interested in and for the ones I was interested in, I really did well in them. I enjoyed them, I was focused, it was easier to focus, whereas the ones that weren't, as you know, as of an interest to me, I struggled a little bit more to focus, to not procrastinate the assignments, to complete the assignments, all of these things. And I think for me, when I was in high school I was a perfectionist. I got straight A's and I think partly because I learned how to be interested in my classes, but also because I'm a perfectionist and so I needed on my grade card, like that was. That was something that I kind of fixated on and, to be honest, I don't know if that's a good idea either. Looking back, I think fixating on grades is not the best way to go. To be honest, I don't know if that's a good idea either. Looking back, I think fixating on grades is not the best way to go, to be honest. But yeah, so I kind of. I had some classes that I wasn't as interested in and I remember my, my English class of my last year of high school and in that English class it was AP, english language and composition. For any people who went to an American high school, you know maybe what that class is and it was difficult. It was a difficult class. There were a few things that I just didn't really get, and my marks at the beginning of the year, some of my grades on assignments and things weren't as great. They just weren't. They weren't great. And I remember looking at these grades and feeling a bit discouraged, feeling like, huh, why can't I figure this out? And then throughout the year I decided to do a few things to kind of enjoy this class more, which helped with my grades more. I remember my essay writing in this class went from not being very great to my final essay of the class. I think I got a really good mark on it. I don't remember what it was, but it was good, and I think we can also apply this to university stuff as well.
Speaker 1:Right now I'm studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I, thankfully, really enjoy all my classes. There are different levels. There are a few classes that I don't enjoy as much and I also have some peers who don't enjoy some of the classes that we take. They say, you know, oh, I don't like this class, and it's interesting because a lot of the times I'm like why I love it. And I think I've noticed that a difference between not enjoying the classes, between, you know, not enjoying the classes to enjoying the classes.
Speaker 1:There are a few key aspects that I want to dive in today. So if you are are in high school, if you are in university, if you are, you know, whatever you clicked on this episode for a reason. Let's dive in to some ways that can help your curiosity or just your enjoyment of these classes grow. Okay, let's get into it. So the first thing is to invite curiosity. Now this might sound strange. How do you invite curiosity, and I think it's quite interesting. You can do it by having things fit to you. So, for instance, I'm currently taking a music history class.
Speaker 1:I really enjoy history in general. I think history is quite interesting. I think history in terms of the everyday history. So I enjoy things like art history, costume history, music history. You know, what were people wearing, what were people listening to, what were people, um, looking at all of these things? Why did they build the buildings that they built? Things like that kind of everyday life history. I really really like that and I think from my upbringing or just kind of the things that I was exposed to, I know a lot about costume history. I know a lot about architectural history. But, to be honest, music history and this is kind of sad because I'm doing music, music history I know a lot about architectural history but, to be honest, music history and this is kind of sad because I'm doing music music history I wasn't as well versed on. I kind of knew the basics, but I didn't really know more than that. So I was sat in this music history class and I find it very exciting because it's like, oh my gosh, you know I'm learning a new aspect of history. But the thing about it is it's a lot of names, it's a lot of dates and things can get mixed up. It's a lot of kind of confusing things sometimes. And what I've done which has really helped me is I know about costume history.
Speaker 1:I really enjoy costume history. This is kind of a hobby of mine, just learning about costume history. And so what I did was when I studied music history, if I looked up, you know, if there was a person in music history so like so-and-so did this thing, I would look up a picture of them, look at their clothes and be like, ah, get that mental image in my head. And then when someone says, when did this person live, I look at that mental image in my head and I see, oh well, this person is wearing this outfit. You know this aspect of their clothes, this outfit, maybe their hair is this way, and I can see, huh, ok, it's going to be around this time period. That is something really niche, really specific to me. So I invite you to find something like that for you.
Speaker 1:If you have a class, especially if it is something like history or maybe something where things are just facts are thrown at you and you might feel like I have a lot of facts, I have a lot of notes, notes, but it's struggling to get into my head. Find a way to connect it. For me that was through costume history. But if you think about something that maybe you enjoy, whatever that is, try and connect it. So, even if it's like just with your everyday life. I think, thinking of another example, I take a music theory class at the Royal Conservatoire and I I have been able to. You know, there are new theory things that I'm learning and I obviously I study them in their own right, but I also have been applying to them or applying them to my practice. So in my practice, obviously I'm practicing the music, but maybe I realize an element that I learned in music theory and that can help me remember that thing. So things like that Find curiosity through something you already like, you already enjoy.
Speaker 1:Okay, it might take a little bit of brain work. It is kind of a strange idea if you've never heard of it before and sometimes I struggle with it. Like there are classes that I'm like I have no idea how to kind of connect this to something I like or to me personally. But if you know, I really invite you to kind of do that because it does make a difference in the curiosity of the class. The next thing is understand things from your teacher's or professor's point of view.
Speaker 1:So when I was in high school, some classes or actually I think it was probably before high school, like maybe eighth grade or so, you know there were some classes that I took and I didn't enjoy them and I didn't really like my homework. And I remember kind of being like, oh, I don't like, why do I have to? I don't want to do this homework. I'm like kind of like ugh, I don't want to. And I remember someone saying to me think about it from the teacher's point of view.
Speaker 1:This teacher has made the lesson. This teacher has written the homework. This teacher has made the lesson. This teacher has written the homework. This teacher has thought of huh, what resources can I give you? Um, to make to, to help you learn, to help you grow as best you can? Um, this teacher, you know, maybe the day before school started, was a bit nervous about all the things they prepared, um, all of these things, and when I saw it from the teacher's point of view of like this teacher has created this homework, has given it to me, wants me to learn, wants me to grow, is hoping that I do well, that really changed my perception of kind of just the assignment in general and all of a sudden I had a bit more motivation to complete it to the very best of my ability. And I think this can also 100% be applied to you.
Speaker 1:If you think about, maybe, something that you struggle with and you think about the teacher, and you know the teacher wants you to, wants you to do well, the teacher has taken the time to give you this assignment because the teacher knows that this assignment is, is full of value. And I think that that's something that we often forget, especially if we're, you know, piles, you know under piles of work to do. Sometimes we we forget that this work was given to us by a human being who wants us to grow and who thinks that this work will help us grow. And that mindset shift for me really kind of changed the game. Um, and it's a slow mindset shift. It's not. It's not like we're done. You know, everything's great now. It is a slow mindset shift. But I think having that point of view of, like the teacher made this so that I can learn and grow is so so, so important. So I invite you to think about that next time.
Speaker 1:Okay, and the fun, or the last thing. Sorry, I just looked at my notes and I read fun, the last thing, the third thing, that is kind of aesthetics and fun things. So let's, let's dive into that. I have ADHD and because I have ADHD, you might you might have ADHD, you might not. It does like I don't know. Um, but I think this can apply to both, both people, people who do or don't. Um, adhd works on dopamine. People with ADHD have a dopamine deficiency. People with ADHD always want that dopamine right, and for me, I found dopamine helps me enjoy my classes more.
Speaker 1:So I think, kind of what we were talking about, especially the first thing of inviting curiosity, that is, dopamine, right, if you, if you link something to something your brain already likes, then that kind of is the same idea. But this is also an idea. So, for instance, if I like how my pencil writes, I will want to take more notes. I've bought I've recently bought some really nice pencils. I mean I have if you're watching this, this is it a pencil and they were great. I got them and I just really like how they write. And I realized the more I write with these pencils or with other pens I enjoy, the more I want to write and the more excited I am for the class. I know it's a silly thing, I know it has absolutely nothing to do am for the class. I know it's a silly thing, I know it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual class. I understand this and it might work for you or it might not work for you, but it makes me more excited to go to class because I know that I'm going to write with a pencil that I enjoy writing with.
Speaker 1:You might have ADHD. You might feel like, oh yeah, this is this makes sense to me. You might have ADHD, and you might feel like, oh yeah, this makes sense to me. You might have ADHD and be like what are you talking about? You might not have ADHD and be like Eleanor, this is a really cool idea. Or you might not have ADHD and be like this is silly, but for me, finding small personal things that make me want to study is so helpful, whether that's the pencils, whether that's. You know, I like studying with a whiteboard. But for me, finding small personal things that make me want to study is so helpful, Whether that's the pencils, whether that's. You know, I like studying with a whiteboard. That is something fun for me.
Speaker 1:Whatever that is, find that little thing for you and what you can start to do is kind of move that on to the actual class. So, for instance, I like writing with these pencils. I'm excited to go to class because I know that I will write with pencils that just like feel good when they write. You know what I mean. Like some pencils are like they just don't write well. These pencils, I bought them because I just needed some pencils. They happen to write really well, very excited about that.
Speaker 1:But that can help. You know, if I enjoy writing with with these pencils, then I enjoy the lesson and then I'm more engaged. Without realizing it, I'm more engaged. So that's just something I wanted to throw out if, or throw out there. If that resonates with you, that's great, and if it doesn't, that's fine as well. But I hope that you can find, maybe if it does resonate with you. You can find something like that, whether it's a pencil, whether it is, um, I don't know, maybe just like dressing up for class, that's that. That could be something. If you like dress up and you're like, tomorrow I'm gonna wear this cool outfit, and it just makes you feel excited and ready to learn. You know, it could be like, I don't know, dress like an outfit that you really like and you're like I'm excited to wear this outfit and I'm excited to go to class in this outfit. Whatever that is for you that can help you be more engaged. I know it's a silly trick, I know it doesn't make any sense because it doesn't have anything to do with the actual lesson, but it does help, for me at least, and I hope that maybe it'll help for you as well. Yeah, so that is about it for this episode.
Speaker 1:Um, let's do a quick recap. The first thing is to invite curiosity and fit things to you, kind of relate things to you. For instance, we have a music, my music history class. There's a lot of dates and names in my music history class and I know that I like costume history as well, and so I linked the history class with costume, history and that kind of helped me focus more. The second thing is understanding your teacher's or professor's point of view, and the third thing is kind of aesthetics and fun stuff, like writing with a cool pencil or you know whatever fits for you, and I hope that this, this, these three things, were helpful for you.
Speaker 1:If you enjoyed this episode and all of these things and you want to have more from me, you can sign up for emails from me. I do send fun emails out, whether that is emails about podcast episodes, whether that is behind the scenes things. I also send out a lot of like PDFs, guides, cheat sheets, things like that. So if that's something that sounds like it's up your alley, then please, please, please do use the link in the show notes or the description to sign up. Yeah, that's about it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening or watching. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did enjoy it, please, please, please, do like, do follow, subscribe, whatever. Just share some love and I will see you in the next episode. All right, take care, bye-bye.
