A Journey Through New York

Opportunity

I have been given an amazing opportunity, the Lynden Christian Concert Choir as been invited to perform with a mass choir in Carnegie Hall! We leave tomorrow early in the morning from the school. We will fly to New York were we will then immediately depart for New Jersey. There we will have the opportunity to sing at a school and a few rest homes. The next day we will depart again for New York City. We will spend the rest of the time rehearsing and sighting seeing around the city before our concert.

As a Christian School we are blessed to be singing on the most famous stage in the world a piece that praises our God. We will be singing Beethoven's mass in C major, a fifty minute worship service!

Aida

This years spring musical at Lynden Christian High School is Aida. This is a relatively new Broadway musical, opening on the stage of Broadway in 2000, with the rights becoming available in the year 2004. This is a new musical built around new theater technology. As Lynden Christian’s Master Theater Electrician I met this challenge head on.

Right away I knew that we would have to add to our rigging and circuiting before we could start thinking about starting a design. So

with the help of my crew we wired in 8 new dimmer lines to the back of the auditorium. Next we purchased four new cycloramic (cyc) fixtures to up date the existing units. We then took every fixture we own down for maintenance.

The lighting design for this show started six months before auditions were held. I took the music, video, and script and started to sketch out what some of the scenes would look like. This was then handed off to the director who brought the plan to out set designers to work with. This allowed me some time to watch the rehearsals to get a idea of what the blocking for some of the choreography would look like.The real work for this kind of show does not start until the few weeks before dress rehearsals. My crew and I often spent time working into the night getting things reading before the curtain

opens. Because this kind of show requires several individual fixtures, means that we must spend a lot of time rigging and preparing the fixtures before they can be programmed into the control consol. This is a long joint effort with the choreographers to give us a layout of their dances, the stage crew to give us exact locations of different pieces of the set, and the paint crew so we know exactly what colors we are working with.
Once this is done I could then start the task of programming the control consol. This involves stripping every scene down and adding elements of light until it provides the effect and

emotion necessary to bring the audience into the show. This takes a lot of time sitting in a dark auditorium, with just you and the lights. I spent over 17 hours one day programming cues into the consol. The final result is always worth the time.Going into this show I knew it would be the biggest challenge yet. It has taken everything I have learned over the years. But with the help of my crew, and Mike Vos we got it done! This is the biggest and best show I have ever done, and I think its safe to say that it’s this biggest show that Lynden Christian has ever done. This is defiantly the show to end on!

Good to Come

We are all faced with times when you known something is going to go wrong. When it comes time to confront this you are surprised to find it going quite well. I have had a lot of stress and deadlines lately. I cannot remember the last time I have been able to take a break from one of these deadlines. The work and time is now at the point where progress can be seen. I am now able to wrap my mind around what the final element will look like.
I have gotten used to things falling apart, when I want them to become stronger. I am surprised and overjoyed to find that now things are going smoothly and in the right direction. I can rest easy knowing that the decisions I have made are leading to a outcome of great potential. I look forward to what will become of these decisions; how will they affect the people around me?

Possible Excursions

Circumnavigate Ross Lake
Day 1: Little Beaver - Still Well
Day 2: Still Well - 39 Mile Camp
Day 3: 39 Mile - Green Point
Day 4: Green Point - Hidden Hand Camp
Day 5: Hidden Hand Camp - Devils Creek
Day 6: Devils Creek - Nightmare Camp
Day 7: Nightmare Camp - Hozomeen

Spring Trip
William's Lake

October Trip
Hozomeen

Sourdough
Day 1: Diablo - Sourdough Lookout
Day 2: Sourdough Lookout - Sourdough Lake
Day 3: Diablo

Park Butte (West approach)

Baker

Jack Mt.
Day 1: Summit Little Jack make base camp
Day 2: Summit Jack Mt.
Day 3: Break base camp - out

Challenger Mt.
Day 1: Boundary Camp
Day 2: Whatcom Pass Camp (base camp)
Day 3: Summit (north approach)
Day 4: Hannegan Pass Camp
Day 5: out

Nooksack Cirque
3 days

Day Hikes

South Twin
Church Mt.
Hannegan Peak
The Portals
Goat Mt. West Summit

Times Future

This is a time of transition; the world is about to get much bigger than the life I now know. The lessons I have been taught will soon be tested and formed. I have been able to work my way into a position of some influence at Lynden Christian. In a few short months this position will have to be given up. I am looking forward to the future with anticipation. I have grown through the recent years, both in my beliefs and in my character. I believe these influences on me will be beneficial as I go out into the world. It has been a short time, relative to life, that I have spent learning in a environment that has the only purpose of nurturing the future. However these few years will be the most important in my life.

I have been classified as a mentor, a role model, teacher, and leader; someone that you can come to seeking guidance or answers. This is correct I am in charge of a crew that runs serial key systems for productions at Lynden Christian. This role requires me to train these systems to the crew. I will be going into a career of law enforcement that will require these skills from me. I am not afraid to guide or direct, I often become the leader of a project that is unexpected. Other times I go into a project as a decided leader. I am a mentor, someone who can teach and guide.

The key theme that has been attributed to myself is responsibility, someone who is committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty. Again this can be seen through what I do. I have earned the trust of many putting me in positions to make decisions for others. I am trusted to get the job done, I am trusted with information, I am trusted with people. I take none of this lightly; every decision I make is considered before I move forward with action. There are several less prominent themes that have been attributed to me such as: self-assurance, communication, and strategic. These all contribute to how I go about my responsibly. I have had people come to me on a personal nature, because I have earned their trust, I have been allowed to make decisions the range in the thousands of dollars as the leader of a crew, because I have show my responsibly with it. If I show a lack of decrement or concern for any of the responsibilities I have, I would be a failure on my part one that could cost everything from money to, most importantly, friendships that I have built over the years. I do not take my responsibilities lightly.

My life plot would best be described as a quest or journey, a journey seeking for something more. It’s not a journey towards perfection or knowledge. My journey is simply life; I want to live life as it comes taking one day at a time. It is impossible to know what tomorrow is going to bring so why waste time worrying about it? Don Quixote took this to the extreme, he did however have the right idea life is worth living seeking for what is best and what is happening now. I have tried predicting what the next day will bring. The only thing I fond was disappointment. This disappointment came about because something was always not as I expected, sometimes good, and sometimes bad.

My past is over and done I cannot go back to relive it. The only option is to live in the present giving my all into what comes my way. I have made a comfortable life for myself, but its time to take that life and move into the future. I do have my doubts about what I am leaving behind, will what I have started continue on without me? It is now the decision of my predecessors, they will be the ones making the decisions, they will be the ones with the responsibilities, and they will be the ones accountable for their actions. When I am gone I hope my impression will survive for at least a instant. This is however out of my control, out of my hands. All I will do is continue down the path that has been set before me. I may think I have a good idea as to what lies ahead of me on the path, but in all reality I do not have a clue.

New 2010

2010 will be a year of change for me, and I am looking forward to it! It is true that this year holds many lasts for me; but with lasts come firsts. The biggest last for this year will be the end of high school. I will be graduating from Lynden Christian High School in June. After that I may never see some of the faces that I have become accustomed with. From Lynden Christian I will be off to Skagit Valley College in pursuit of a park service and protection, additionally I will be attending the Park Service Law Enforcement Academy at Skagit. Here I will meet new and interesting people.

Later this year I will be performing in Carnegie Hall wile on tour in New York with the Lynden Christian Concert Choir. This will be another first for me; going to New York, and performing in Carnegie Hall. It will be my last tour with the Concert Coir and last trip with the underclassmen. What a way to end a career with a great director, Mr. Smit!

To continue the finally of my senior year at Lynden Christian, I will be taking on the biggest show ever put on at Lynden Christian. Aida will test the limits of what my technical staff can do, wile at the same time creating the most stunning show that Lynden Christian has ever seen. This will be the last show for me, and what a show to end on!

A first for me will be graduating. I look at this using the same logic I used in cross-country. Graduation in the line of no regrets; as long as I know that I finished hard and ran the race as

well as I could, even if there are some missteps along the way, that is something I can walk away from proud.

More trails, more mountains; that is the plan this summer. I hope to be working with the National Park Service in the North Cascades Complex as a Park Ranger General. General Park Rangers perform a wide variety of duties largely determined by the duty station. "Front country" General Park Ranger’s duties include campground and fee management, bear management, water recreation patrols. General Park Rangers patrol in locations ranging from high visitor use trails to remote trail-less locations often in rough terrain for overnight periods. Duties include light trail and camp maintenance, backcountry permit compliance,

backcountry data collection, emergency medical services, and may involve arduous hiking and sometimes technical climbing. All General Park Rangers may have involvement in wild land

fire protection, search and rescue, interpretation, and a variety of visitor services. This is just the job to get me out in the hills doing the things I love wile making money at the same time.

2010 will be a year of firsts and lasts for me. I am exited for what’s to come bring on the New Year!