Judge Etnoyer

This past Friday I got to do something I have never done before. I was a judge for a piano competition! A good friend of mine, who works at a Christian K-12 private school, asked me if I would be one of the judges for the competition. They had several categories, all ages, and not just music! They also had a variety of art-work. When I agreed to the judging I did not know anything about the competition, including that it was going to be held at a private Christian school. I could not have had a better first experience though! The girl I judged with was a former grad. school roommate as well as a peer from my piano studio at WVU. We worked so well together. We judged around 15-17 kids, from very young to middle school age.

Aside from experiencing judging, this was also my first experience inside of a Christian school. I am somewhat of a pessimist when it comes to any kind of schooling outside of the home, even private Christian schooling. However, I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw! Kids had bible verses on their lockers, the school was very clean and bright, with lots of windows. Mainly, it looked just like any other school, but there was a sense of love and belonging that radiated from most of the teachers and students I ran into there. The best part of it for me was that before the judging began, all the judges/teachers gathered in a room to discuss logistics and then we all prayed before going to our separate stations. This was particularly special because I happened to know that one of the girls judging for the vocal competitions, a student at WVU, is an atheist! What an experience that must have been for her to be surrounded my sincere Christians who prayed together!!

As for the judging, it was really something to be in the same position as those I usually feared! It really shed new light on the nature of competitions for me. I felt so bad for some kids, and it was really hard for me to sit there and not say, "It's ok. You can get out your music" I had to treat every child equally, and for some that meant watching them fall on their face, (so to speak), and find their way to the end of a piece. Regardless of the performance each student gave, my friend and I were sure to smile and thank everyone who played. I was very conscientious of what I wrote on their comment sheets, with the scoring and written comments. I wanted every child to go home feeling like they learned something from the experience, and could be proud of themselves for something, even if it was just making it to the end!

I should add at the end of this a note to my mom, who with such confidence in her daughter cautioned me the morning I left not to "Make the children cry". Thanks mom!!! And in case you are wondering, no child cried, at least not in our presence! If anything, some of the kids were overly distracted by the mob of family/friends that accompanied them to the performance. We sometimes resented this because a child would come in very prepared, but was so distracted by the crowd and parents flashing pictures, that we knew they didn't play their best. The best kids were sometimes the ones who came in alone, with no one inside the room but us.

The one last thing I must say about the competition is that some teachers are really crazy!!! We had one guy who actually came in after his student played and had lots of memory slips, sat down with us (which you are DEFINITELY not supposed to do...no contact is supposed to be made with judges at a competition). Anyway, he sat down with us and started to tell us how amazing and perfect his student was the week before, and how this NEVER happens. I was very nice, told him I had a student working on the same piece and that we were both very understanding that memory slips happen, even to the best of us. I just don't know what he was expecting us to do!! We had already written our comments, and scored the performance, and we certainly couldn't go back and change anything! It seems like some people just have a hard time letting their students stand on their own two feet, and learning that the student's performance is not always a direct reflection on the teacher's ability to teach. Some people just can't get past that though, I guess.

Anyway, I guess that was about all I wanted to share. I am pretty tired and it's getting late. Spring keeps teasing us lately. It was like summer for 3 or 4 days, and it's been freezing for the past 2 days!! Oh well, maybe "the sun will come out tomorrow" :)

Good night and God Bless! :)

p.s. One last thing I have to say about all this, in regard to my blog title "Judge Etnoyer". I want anyone who might question my intentions to know that I certainly, in no way shape or form, view myself as better or more important because I got to do this. It was a humbling and rewarding experience. The biggest lesson for me was learning that we are all just people, whether we're the student, teacher, or judge. We should never feel intimidated by another person. The whole reason we have competitions is to grow, learn, and be rewarded for our hard work, whether that's getting a medal, or just intrinsic satisfaction in a job well done. And most importantly, we do it to glorify God, and not ourselves. That's what made this competition very special.