Winter Break 2011

Hello everybody!

I hope all of my readers are having a great winter break from school. Also, I hope everybody had an amazing Christmas or Hanukkah. So much has happened since my last blog entry. Enjoy!

Jazz band has been going really well. While I am happy that improv classes are now available, I wish they were started when I was a freshman. I have gotten tons of information out of them. But, I wish that I didn’t feel stressed and feel the need to cram all of the musical knowledge before I go off to college in the fall. I feel as if I am far behind my fellow trombone players coming from other high schools. Mr. Popat was recently named the new supervisor of visual and performing arts for the district. Congrats! 🙂

In recent wind ensemble news, we had an awesome holiday concert earlier in the month. Mrs. Russo picked out new music for us to work on for the Bands of Randolph concert and Region Concert Band Festival in March. I love the selections she made! So far they include “Ride”- Samuel Hazo, “A Movement For Rosa”- Mark Camphouse, and “The Hounds of Spring”- Alfred Reed. I can tell you right now, the wind ensemble will be VERY busy figuring out each of these pieces and getting it performance-ready.

A little bit of progress has been made on my college applications

I hope everybody has a great Christmas/Hanukkah and an amazing new year! I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for me!! 🙂 Best of luck!

Jordan

Swim Team Update

Hello Everybody!

I hope you are having a great weekend. Here is the latest update from my life. I hope that all of my readers are enjoying the insight I am giving into my life. Enjoy!

Swim team is going well! I am getting better and better each day. I can’t wait to compete in a meet this season and move up a lane. While I was not in the pool, I got the opportunity to time one of the Randolph lanes. Timing a lane at our meet last Thursday versus Kinnelon High School was awesome! I got to cheer on my teammates from the deck and help out the team at the same time. Also, some swimmers who normally do not get called upon to swim were selected to compete in various events. I was happy to see those people getting “the call.” Kudos to Matt Gaydos for setting his personal best time in the 400 freestyle relay, I am super proud of you buddy! (I couldnt believe the stopwatch at first glance!)

Thanksgiving 2011

Hello everybody!

Hope you all are having a great week. Thanksgiving is a time for all Americans to be with their families and give thanks to what you have and in some cases, what you don’t have. When a child is young, they tend to be more thankful for the toys/materials they have. As he/she grows up and becomes older, they tend to be more thankful for the people around them and quality of life. There are many things I am extremely thankful for; I bet you have some as well. This thanksgiving I am thankful for…

• All of my friends
• You have seen all sides of me; You’ve been there for me during the dark times but, the amazing times as well. I appreciate your support more than you can imagine. Thank you! I love you all! 🙂
• My Family (Both immediate and extended)
• My fellow PGC leaders and advisors
• The freshmen in my PGC group
• I hope I can make a positive impact on your lives this year!
• All of my teachers
• The Class of 2012 class advisors
• Randolph High School and the overall school system I am educated in
• My fellow People to People delegates AND all of the friendships/memories I made over the summer
• The future of troop 53 and my fellow scouts participating in the troop
• The opportunities I have been blessed with over the years
• Having a roof over my head and having a place to call “home”
• Consistently providing the fuel my body needs
• The clothes on my back
• My involvement in music and scouting
• Without those two things, I can’t imagine what my life would be like currently

I could write for the next hour about how thankful I am for certain things. 🙂

If you see a U.S serviceman or woman, especially during the holiday season, be sure to thank them for their service. Many servicemen and women are giving up the opportunity to spend precious time with their families during the holidays and using it instead to fight for country. America would not be the land of the free and home of the brave without our military. Thank you all!

I hope all of my readers have a great Thanksgiving. Make sure to eat lots of turkey AND make quality memories with the people around you. You never know when the last time you see them will be. God Bless!

Jordan

Rough Week

Hello Everybody!

I know that it hasn’t been a while since my last post. I feel like blogging now and a lot has happened even in the last week. Enjoy!

At Nick’s memorial mass on Tuesday, it was so good to see his family and some of his friends again. It was sad knowing its been a full year without him on this earth but, God wanted him up in heaven rather then on Earth with us. That is something that I have found solace in. This tragedy has really made me believe that certain results happen for specific reasons (may be unknown at the time). I truly appreciate my fellow PGC leaders wearing orange ribbons with me in supporting Nick. You guys are awesome! 🙂 Having it be the first day of swim team was almost fitting. It allowed me to release all of pent up emotions in a healthy way. Plus, I was doing an activity Nick loved to do. 🙂

Some more shake-ups have happened in the music department. Mr. Popat was recently named to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Aulenbach, district supervisor of visual and performing arts. He starts his new job December 15. I am super happy for him and have all the confidence in the world that he keep the top-notch quality of our arts programs and find ways to improve them. For the jazz program, my excitement was only reaffirmed by the improv sessions before rehearsals, forming jazz combos, master class with the guest soloist in May, and many other amazing opportunities. The jazz ensemble is shooting to audition for the Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival in NYC. I wish them the best of luck as they pursue this amazing opportunity to the fullest. The RHS jazz band is going to be really awesome this year. We have a good rhythm section and strong brass section. I’m looking forward to having a blast with them this year! 🙂

Oh swim team, what have I gotten myself into now? Haha 😛 On a more serious note, the first week of swim team has been extremely tiring but, a good experience. This transition would be so much harder without people like Frank Bozzi, Ben Ritter, Marty Herc, Brent Jones, Caitlin Ross, Connor Timmerman, Megan Brophy, and many others. They have provided me with numerous tidbits on how to become a better swimmer. I am grateful to them for their help and the learning curve would be a lot steeper without their guidance! My thought process is even if I don’t get to race this season, I will lose some weigh and become healthier. For me, that reward is better than any other one possible.

Have an awesome weekend. I’ll talk to you all soon! 🙂

Jordan

N.A.M 11.15.10

Hello Everybody!

I sincerely hope that you are having a great weekend! It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I am writing this blog entry. This Tuesday (11/15/11) marks the one year anniversary of Nick Muccia’s passing. He was not only a drum major, or an eagle scout, or a leader; he was a friend and someone that I looked up to. I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing during the entire day leading up to his passing. I wasnt feeling well on Monday and decided to stay home from school. I was really congested and felt just miserable. Around 7:30pm, I was doing my homework for the next day when I saw on my computer screen that Nick Muccia had passed away. At first, I thought it was a sick joke/rumor that someone started. In the end, it turned out to be true.

The next day, many of the Juniors and Seniors (at that time) who knew him through music, church or boy scouts were a mess (emotionally). The band community was just in complete and utter shock. No one really talked about his passing, it was just understood that people were upset. On Thursday evening, I went to stop and pay my respects at the funeral parlor and then head over to my boy scout meeting. The line was in the parlor and all the way around the building. I never made it in there and just knew Nick would want me at boy scouts.

Friday, 11am at Resurrection Parish, the funeral for Nick was held. I completely lost it. Nick being off this world forever finally hit me at that moment. I cried and cried and cried some more. It was good to see many of my friends who were sophomores in college (at that point) and reconnect with them. It made the entire situation bittersweet for me. I still have the ribbon I wore on my jacket during the service. Now, it is one of my most treasured keepsakes. Friday evening was the football game. Knowing that the Marching Rams had lost one of our own early that week was hard to not think about. I found solace though in Mr. and Mrs. Muccia, Mr. and Mrs. Faul, Nick’s brother and sister (Tom and Lynne) and many of his close friends, who I knew and loved, being there. I hadn’t seen some of his friends/my friends in at least year since that day. All of the Marching Rams (Almost 200 of us) wore orange ribbons on our uniform to dedicate our show that night to him. Before we started, Mrs. Russo read a passage she had come up with the commemorate Nick and the values he stood for. She didn’t cry! 🙂 On the field, there were people who were crying while they were marching. That made me emotional and dig deep for him after a long week fraught with emotions. Also, seeing a sea of orange in the band section pushed me even more. It was an emotionally charged night but, one that I will never forget.Later in the week, I shaved a mohawk in memory of Nick and kept it for a few weeks. Yes, he did have a mohawk at one point.

While it will be good to see everybody who can come on Tuesday, I am not looking forward to the emotions surrounding the service. Tuesday is also the first day of swim team. Swimming was something Nick was very passionate about and loved to do in his free time. The numerous events, awards, and scholarships dedicated in Nick’s honor just show how many areas he impacted with his short time on Earth. It’s comforting knowing that he is looking down on me and keeping me safe/secure. Thank you everybody! God Bless!

Jordan

P.S- I love you Nick! I hope you are playing the trombone and chillin’ with your fellow eagle scouts in heaven.

As The World Turns

Hello Everybody!

I hope all of my readers are doing well and are having a great weekend. Sorry about my long absence from writing here. I have just been super busy and not really in the mood to write over the last couple of months. A lot of stuff has gone on since my last post and I am looking forward to sharing as much as I can with you all.

Marching Band and Reflection

I can’t believe the marching band season is almost over already. (We have 1 more game; a make-up game, the day after Thanksgiving, because of weather)I swear, this season could have been used as a plot line for “As The World Turns”. The weather definitely did not make things fun during the season. Mrs. Russo actually called us “The Extreme Weather Band” throughout the year. From earthquakes to hurricanes to snow to sunshine, the marching rams experienced all kind of weather. I loved to see the progression of our show throughout the season even with all of the weather related obstacles we faced. I believe it was fitting for us to have our best show be the last time we did our show as a group, Under The Stars at Randolph High School! Every time the marching rams faced a challenge, we worked ourselves out of it through dedication and hard work. While I won’t miss the people of my section, I will miss the marching rams as a whole. Even thought I had to face some major trials this season, I don’t regret a minute of it. 😦 I got to meet some amazing people this season; the color guard and the new freshmen to the group. I wish them all the best moving forward. 🙂 I also want to thank all of thank all of the roadies and other parents who helped out in various capacities this season. Our success and logistics would not of been possible without your support. Thank you!

On a more reflective note, marching band has taught me so much about life and the Randolph band program.  It has brought out the best and worse out in me. Through marching band I have been blessed to meet people like Pete Horgan, the late Nick Muccia, Kyle Risch, Derek McGibbon, Becky Rama, Maddie Larson, Ali Nadler,  Emma Ruddick-Ferrat, Peter Liu, Tom Koshy, Tom McDonough, Matt Siebs, and countless others. It has shown me the value of working hard and dedication. For example: Not many people get to perform at the Meadowlands once let alone, 3 or 4 times. I hope I have left my mark on the Marching Rams over the last 4 years. I am forever grateful.

Senior Year/PGC/College

Well, senior year has been really crazy for me in terms of academics. I am loving my classes especially Holocaust & Genocide and AP Psychology. I find both of those areas so fascinating but, in different ways. In PGC, I finally got to meet the freshmen that I will be working with over the year. My co-leaders and I had a great time during our PGC “field day” and our first two lessons. They are an amazing and diverse group of kids and we look forward to becoming close with them over the course of the year. 🙂 I finally have my final list of colleges that I am applying to set in stone. I just sent my early decision application to American University almost 2 weeks ago. I can’t wait to hear back from them! 🙂 I am applying to University of Massachusetts: Amherst, University of Hartford, Quinnipiac University, Northeastern University, Elon University, Curry College, CCM (County College of Morris) Ithaca College, American University, The George Washington University, and Bloomsburg University of PA. This whole college application process is extremely stressful! I can only hope and pray that the finances will work out for the schools that accept me and the one I attend in the fall. The hardest part is not knowing what the admission officers at the school are thinking! I can’t wait for it to be over!

Jazz Band

There were some shake-ups in the jazz program at the end of last year. Mr. Popat is now leading Jazz Ensemble 1 and Mr. Miller is leading Jazz Ensemble 2. I feel extremely blessed to have such amazing and experienced teachers/musicians leading the jazz program now. I can already tell it is going to be a phenominal year. Jazz auditions were this past week and I was selected to be with Jazz Ensemble 2 and Mr. Miller playing Bass Trombone. I also feel fortunate that I have been in the jazz program all through high school. Some people have to wait to audition successfully into the program and some don’t get in at all. My heart goes out to the people who were not selected to be in the jazz program this year! I hope that this does not shatter your passion for jazz and music overall. I can tell you without hesitation that Jazz has influenced me to become the person I am today.

Boy Scouts

Unfortunately, boy scouts has fallen victim to marching band during some trips this year. But overall, it is going well! I am no longer SPL of my troop, as of last week. Even though I wish I still had the position, I am willing to give it over to Steve Snelson! 🙂 I hope I can mentor him and get started on my eagle project. I have a lot of ideas and I need to get them proposed ASAP! 🙂

Mr. and Mrs. A

It was announced that Mr. Aulenbach is a new vice-principal of Randolph High School a couple of weeks ago. Followed the announcement, a lot of people shared a lot of very real emotions , he is no longer director of the Wind Ensemble. This obviously caused some drama in the band program and many people are very unhappy about the shake-up of ensemble directors. The next couple of years will be very interesting to see how the music and arts department regroups after losing their supervisor. The Aulenbach’s brought a new baby boy into the world not too long ago. His name is Henry Allen Aulenbach. I know you will congratulate them along with me and support them moving forward.

So long for now. I’ll talk to all of my readers soon, I promise! 🙂

Jordan

Seniors!!!!

Hello Everybody!

I hope everybody is having an awesome weekend. I am happy to be back blogging after taking a little break for band camp and a couple of other things. OH. MY. WORD, I am finally a senior! I can’t believe it. It was only three short years ago that I was entering RHS as a lonely freshman, not having a clue as to how to be successful. Now, I am in a completely different “place”, for the better and for the worst. I have learned some hard lessons that I will take with me through college and the rest of my life. I love the classes that I am taking and hope to really do well to boost my GPA. My Schedule (X-Day): Gym/Health, English, Holocaust and Genocide, Trig/Discreet Math, AP Psychology, Band, Journalism, and finally, PGC (Peer Group Connection). I can only hope that my positive outlook will help me throughout the year. Hope to talk to all of ya again soon! Best wishes! 🙂

Jordan

Summer 2011 (Part 2)

Hello everybody!

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope that all of my readers are taking away something from the entries that I have written so far. This will be my last summer-titled entry. After this, I plan to blog about band camp and how marching band is progressing along. The future is unknown after band camp. The time that I will have to blog will be very limited because of the timing of all the events during the next couple of weeks. I will try to blog as frequently as I can.

I am not looking forward to the start of the 2011 marching band season 😦 Having to deal with all of the egos and other personalities involved within the group is really not fun. While I like being part of something more than myself, I just don’t feel that our hard work and dedication is really respected and pointed out by the band staff. All of the members in the group are making sacrifices, from the freshman all the way up to the section leaders and drum majors, not just the band staff.I have to start getting my chops in shape for the season! Because of the politics in the band program, I have so much to prove in the next couple of months and everything has to go perfectly in order to build up my reputation again. Seeing people conduct on the podium, especially during band camp, will feel like a total shot in the heart because of all the time and effort I put into my drum major audition. But, I look forward, once everything gets going again, to having a successful season.

One of the evening activities that happens during Band Camp at Camp Timber Tops is senior night. About 5-10 years ago, senior night used to be very violent and bully-like.  Its violent characteristics have been taken down a couple of notches of bullying incidents and injuries but, we are all looking forward to having a good time without damaging anything or hurting anybody. The seniors perform skits for everybody during the first part of the evening and then, get to prank everybody later in the evening while everybody is asleep. Whi;e I can’t say what we are planning on doing for both parts of the evening, I can say that it will be unique and is something that everybody will get a laugh out of.

I have been getting a lot done on my college applications over the past couple of weeks. Time is of the essence no matter how you break it down. With marching band taking a lot of time away from doing my college applications, I must get as much done as possible before all hell breaks loose. (Marching band). Also, I have to take the ACT’s for a second time. in a couple of weeks. I will be taking the SAT’s again during the first weekend of October. I wish that I could be comfortable with my scores from the spring but, right now, I am looking for all the points I can get. Going back to college applications, I have been thinking about the dreaded, college admissions essay! I have brainstormed many ideas and how I can fit them into a college essay. For my common application, I will be talking about Nick Muccia’s passing last November. The University of Maryland and Elon University each have their own essay prompts. I hope that not only am I making him proud by doing this, I giving my readers just a little bit of the type of person that he was.

In other news, I have finally found a girlfriend. Her name is Robyn Davis and she is going to be a senior at Randolph High School in the fall, same as me. I look forward to conquering all of the challenges that we will face and having a blast with her. I know that she will make me grow not only as a boyfriend but, as a man as well. Also, I am still working on uploading my People to People journal on WordPress and Everlater for everybody to enjoy. Typing out all the details is just very time consuming.

Thank you for reading my entry. Have an awesome and safe rest of your summer!

People to People Trip

Trying to get all of my journal entries up from my People to People trip and my trip journal updated is SOOO tedious! 😦

Summer 2011 (Part 1)

Hello Everybody

I am sorry that I have not posted anything in a while! I have been very busy with my People to People trip and updating everything relating to that (I am still not finished), PGC retreat, and boy scout camp. I hope to be writing more regularly since Senior year is coming closer and closer. I hope that I can catch everybody up on what I have been doing. Wow! This summer has been truly a lifechanging experience. I cant believe that it is halfway over already. It seems only yesterday that I was leaving RHS after a long week of taking finals and wrapping everything up in June. I mean who can say that they have been to 4 countries, became a family with 20 other people, and is close to recieving the highest honor in scouting (Eagle Scout). That has only been the last month and a half for me. I am very nervous for what the future holds for me but, if this is any indictation of what it is going to be like for me, I know that everything will work out.

My People to People Trip to Europe was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. I would of never thought going in that I would click so well with a group of 41 other people who I didnt even know before leaving the US. I got to see so many different places that I would have never gotten the opportunity to see without People to People. My blog entry was selected by People to People International to be featured on their blog. Here is the link to the entry so, all of you can read it. http://blog.ptpi.org/2011/07/21/5-minutes-with-jordan-barth/#.Tinl5kmEOX0.wordpress Enjoy! For more information on my People to People trip experience, check out my People to People blog on WordPress and my Trip Journal on Everlater. My trip blog has all my journal entries and the Trip journal has all the stuff that I couldnt fit into my journal. 🙂 By the way, I hope to have everything updated relating to my trip by the end of the week.

I didnt know what to expect going into my PGC retreat at the Courtyard Marriot. I was with 2o other people, some of them I didnt know at all. But, the more time that we spent together, the closer that we became and the more I look at them as my family. Some of the stories that were shared were completely heartbreaking! 😦 While there was a lot of arguing, compromising, sacrificing, and anything else needed to make everybody happy and/or able to live with their groups, we finally came to a decision on the pairs and trios for next year. We really forgot during the time we were working that we need to keep the freshman’s best interest at heart. I think that is why it took so long among many reasons. I cant wait for this year and whatever it will bring. I am looking forward to working with Mike Polio and Amanda Intili.

I just returned home from boy scout with troop 53. We had an awesome week. I had a blast and learned a lot about my troop both in a positive and negative light. While there were some issues with the younger scouts and the youth leadership, we came together by the end of the week and stayed classy while doing it. There were 2 incidents that really shook me. I know that God has a plan for everybody and everything will work out in the end. I learned that being a leader is sometimes very lonely. Obviously, I didnt show it but, there were times that I wondered if I had the support of my leadership team. While I can motivate and mentor my troop to do things, I cant force them to do them. All the awards that they won are from their hard work! I didnt earn them. Congratulations guys! See you all in August (PLC) or September.

I am looking forward to having a week off and then it is off down to South Carolina to see my grandparents. I am not looking forward to the long drive needed to get down there. 😦 I am going to be working on my brag sheet and my common application needed for colleges during the week that I am home. Also, I plan on finishing my People to People trip blog and Everlater travel journal now that I have the time. Thanks for reading. Talk to you all soon! 🙂 Have an amazing rest of your summer!