Marching on!

March is already here! Wow, where did the time go?

My life has been busy, which at this point should go without saying, but I am having a lot of fun in everything I am involved in here at Anderson University. I am a soprano in my university's auditioned-based, 44 member "Chorale" and we are busily preparing for our spring break tour which kicks off this weekend! I am very excited about this tour because it is going to be taking us to New York City for 3 of the days! We are lucky enough to be staying in a hotel for a few nights that is right across the street from Carnegie Hall. It is going to be a blast of a trip, full of plenty of music-making, but also a lot of social time and bonding as well. The link for the tour is here with our schedule (http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=189689061056130)

The school of music that I am a part of here recently wrapped up our opera production of "Tartuffe". It was a great show, full of a dynamic group of talented singers and actors. I was a member of the chorus and an understudy for one of the principal coloratura soprano roles. It was a such a great experience for me. Albeit time-consuming, it was definitely a great chance for me to grow and expand as a performer and to get to know people I generally would not get the chance to spend time with. I can see my voice developing and maturing more and more each year with the help of operas like this, and it is very exciting! As much fun as it was, it is nice to have my evenings free again, however. ;)

This past Tuesday on March 1st, I decided to volunteer at my local IHOP for National Pancake Day in support of the Miss America organization’s partnership with the Children’s Miracle Network. I called the IHOP here in Anderson and asked if I could volunteer and be put to work in any capacity. They were happy to have me come in and had me serving as an actual hostess and seating customers. I was responsible for telling the customers about the charity that they could donate to. In addition to supporting the national IHOP whose proceeds went directly to the Children’s Miracle Network, this local IHOP decided to support a local crisis pregnancy center to help women cope with their unplanned pregnancy and prepare for life after the delivery. It was a great cause and I was grateful to be of service for 2 hours within my busy day!

I have been plugging away at filling out my Miss Ohio paperwork as well. Getting little pieces of it done whenever I can is helping it not be so daunting on top of my other schoolwork and practice. I met with my executive directors last weekend to talk over my game plan for preparing and shopping for Miss Ohio, and I am very excited about it. I am going to start going evening gown dress shopping here soon. I have a lot of ideas already, and I am excited to get going on that. Within these next 2 months of school, I will be investing a lot of time in my schoolwork of course, but I will try to do a few more appearances when I can. I am planning on trying to attend the Sweeps pageant in April if I can get away that weekend, and I am also trying to plan a visit to one or two different children’s hospitals (one in Ohio and one in Indiana) so I can touch the children through song and storytime! When those things happen, you can check back here for an update! Thanks for reading, God bless!

Busy Bee!

Wow!

My second semester is off to a crazy start! It has been a very busy schoolyear for me thus far, being a junior music education major and all, but I feel very happy where I am. I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be! And I feel as though there is no better way to prepare yourself for the pageant world than to fully immerse yourself into your college career and be as involved as possible. I am active in music, which is my platform! :) And I have been working extra hard to fit workouts into my daily schedule, which is sometimes nearly impossible since finding time to sleep and eat is hard enough, but I get it done when I can!

My day starts at 11 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and does not finish until 5:3o pm, and if I have opera rehearsals at night, I go until 10 pm! On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I start at 9 and finish at 4 pm roughly, but then there are opera rehearsals that could potentially take me to 10 pm. So, to say I am busy is sort of an understatement! But I do what I can, and I feel very organized and on top of things thus far! Let's see how it progresses on into February.

In more specific pageant news, I was back home in Defiance to watch the Miss America pageant and to cheer on my good friend Becky Minger with my family! She did an absolutely fantastic job at Miss America! I followed her progress religiously each night via other blogs and facebooks of people that were in Las Vegas. I couldn't be more proud of Becky had she taken that Miss America crown! She has carried herself with such poise and confidence as Miss Ohio thus far, and she still maintains her humor and charisma all the while. I admire her so much! And she looked so good in all phases of competition, especially swimsuit! Get it girl! I see that 6 pack! I am honored to call her a close friend and a definite mentor thus far in my pageant career. She is fabulous. :)

I was home that weekend to be the emcee and guest performer at a pageant entitled The Pride of Williams County pageant. This pageant was the first annual county-wide pageant where the local city titleholders could come and compete at the "next level". I thought the pageant was extremely well run and such a fun environment for the girls. What a great way to teach them healthy competition can exist, and a way to win and lose in a mature way, all while teaching them poise, confidence, elegance, speaking skills, and teamwork! It is great, and definitely not the horror "glitz" stories you see on tv. I was impressed and so glad to be a part of it! I read the onstage questions to the girls, performed a song, and crowned the winners. I had the honor of the crowing because there were obviously no reigning titleholders, it being the first annual pageant and all. :) (Pictures below - blurry ones and all)

I also had the HUGE honor of receiving a very humbling letter in the mail recently from the Ohio State Senate. They were basically honoring me for being an outstanding citizen of the state of Ohio and thanking me for carrying myself in such a way that I am being a role model and setting an example for others. It was a moment that left me speechless, and I am so blessed and grateful to have received such a letter. I will treasure it forever!

This month has definitely flown by, and I know before long, February will be gone too! My opera production that I am involved with here on campus is going into full swing here soon with full run throughs of the show, and my birthday is also this month, as well as countless assignments that are due. So, basically, this will be my last post for awhile until the opera concludes towards the end of February. But I wanted to re-hash the past month and update my life a little bit on this blog. Thanks for taking the time to check in, and if you want to follow my happenings on a more consistent, daily basis, check out my facebook and twitter. God bless you all, and take care!

Touching hearts through song!

Today, I had the wondeful opportunity of singing and speaking at GlennPark assisted living center in Defiance. It was such a blessing to go and bless them! They were a very receptive audience; definitely not bouncing off of the walls, but were truly engaged. I sang a set of four songs and spoke a little about myself and my pageant journey in between each song. My set was: "Christmas Lullaby" Jason Robert Brown, "Good Morning Baltimore" from Hairspray, "My Father's Heart" Rachael Lampa, and "Astonishing" from Little Women.

One of the most touching moments I have had thus far on any appearance as a titleholder happened today. While I was singing, I noticed one gentleman who seemed either very upset or very moved by my performance. I didn't think much of it until my performance concluded and I was unplugging my cd player. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was the older man. He was in tears again. He gently grabbed my face with one hand and my hand with his other hand and said, "You love God as much as I do..." I about lost it! I hugged him tight and told him how glad I was to meet him and how much of a blessing he had just been to me by saying that. I told him goodbye and God bless and he smiled and left. That was it. I may never see this man again, but just that short interaction with him left a huge mark on my heart - and apparently I was lucky enough to do the same for him.

It is in moments such as these in which I remember why I am doing what I am doing. That is what it is truly all about - blessing others through music, and in my case, through my love for them and for God.

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Holiday Hustle and Bustle!

This blog post is very belated, but I have been busy enjoying and soaking up all of this time with my family and friends!


My Christmas celebration this year included our annual Christmas Eve family get-together and then the much smaller gift exchange on Christmas morning between my parents and I.



On Christmas Eve, my grandpa and his wife, Barb, were present, along with my uncle Jeff, first cousin Megan, and her adorable daughter Jayda, as well as my brother Jon, his wife Carey, and my nephew Caleb!





This was both Jayda and Caleb's first Christmas, so it was beyond exciting to see their little hands ripping open their presents and their little eyes gleam as they discovered a new toy. Absolutely precious, and we definitely spoiled them.


We had a lot of delicious food, a lot of joviality during the gift opening, and a fun yet interesting game of Apples to Apples. This game is our holiday tradition, but due to the time of evening and having two sleepy babies around, it was more of a balancing act of a bottle in one hand, babyunder an arm, while holding your cards in the other. Still fun, just an adjustment - but one I am very blessed to be making if it means having those two precious lives in our family.

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In pageant news, I have been simply relaxing this past week without much thought to pageantry. I think refreshing your body and mind is just as much of a preparation as anything else. However, tomorrow at 12:30 pm I have an appearance at GlennPark Senior Center here in Defiance. I will be performing a few of my favorite songs, and also speaking in between about my pageant experience, followed by some Q&A/fellowship with the residents. I am very excited, and I will most definitely have some pictures from that up in a few days.

Also, on Thursday evening of this week, I am meeting with my executive directors to discuss the judges thoughts of me in all of the phases of competition at this past pageant that I won. It will be great to hear their feedback. Also, we will be mapping out the next 6 months of my life in essence, to determine when I will be home for wardrobe shopping, appearances, and interview preparation. We may even be working on my Miss Ohio paperwork, as well.

I am so very excited and cannot wait to get started on this journey to Miss Ohio! This semester will be a whirlwind academically for me, but I am going to try to remain diligent in at least updating this blog every once in awhile to document my appearances and preparation for Miss Ohio.

In related news, I was looking into some of the Miss America contestants, and I stumbled upon Miss Vermont's personal website/blog. A very interesting post about her thoughts on the swimsuit portion of competition. It definitely rang true in my heart, and I know I am not alone in this. Good read for any girl, not simple pageant girls. (**Click on the link embedded above to read)

Take care everyone! Hopefully your holiday season was just as refreshing as mine. God bless!

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms Video on TED.com

As a future music teacher and as an advocate for the arts in school, this video really shed some light on things and put things in a different perspective for me. I think it is absolutely key for educators to see that the educational system that we have established and been abiding by for decades now is completely out of touch with the job market, technology, and social culture that we live in today. There needs to be reform, and this video definitely gives you more concrete reasons why and also some options on how to change education to meet the needs of the students.

Great visual presentation as well... the 11 minutes just flew by for me! It is fabulous, so I hope you all take a little time out of your day to watch it.

First post!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my blog!

If you are reading this, hopefully you know a little bit about me - but if not, I will introduce myself!

My name is Courtney Victoria Monk. I am currently a 20 year old music education major at Anderson University in Indiana. You may be familiar with Sandi Patty and the Gaithers, huge names in Christian music, who hail from my university. I am a junior in the midst of my busiest year of college yet. I actively practice voice and piano, and I also am enrolled in a variety of technique classes, where I try to achieve at least a 6th or 7th grade level on the basic brass, woodwind, percussion, and stringed instruments.

I am also an active part of the musical, opera, and dance productions that are available on my campus. While it may be stressful and does not leave me with much free-time, I utilize these productions as my creative outlet, and it is also an additional method of crafting my performance skills!

I was born and raised in Defiance, Ohio, a small town in Northwestern Ohio. I love it there, and I am very grateful for the wonderful experiences that this town has offered me through the years. I am also honored enough to be a 3 time titleholder within the Miss America System in the state of Ohio! I am the current Miss Northwestern Ohio, which is the title that represents my hometown of Defiance.

Everyday, I consider it a huge blessing from the Lord to have been given all of the wonderful opportunities as both a student and a titleholder!

As a titleholder in the Miss America system, you have to have a platform that you actively work with and are an advocate for. My platform is "A.M.U.S.E. - Arts and Music Underscore Successful Educations". This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart, seeing as how it is my future career of choice and also the most formative activity of my childhood, and I intend on being a champion of the arts for the rest of my life, whether that is through the Miss America system or not.

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My very first appearance as Miss Northwestern was at the Defiance Northtowne Mall on December 4th, 2010. I had the opportunity to help Rick Small and Mix 98.1 with "Christmas for Kids". It is a wonderful effort that happens yearly where people from all over the community donate funds and toys for less fortunate children. Below are some pictures from that event. Also, Becky Minger's Miss America send-off party was yesterday, December 18th, and I had the honor of being a guest. Below are a few pictures from that event as well.

Enjoy!

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Hope you all have a safe, peaceful, and oh-so-very happy holiday season. God bless!

-Courtney M.