I don’t get it. Entering a conservatory is neither a trivial undertaking nor an insignificant achievement. One cannot simply fill out an application, pay the requested fee, and show up bright ‘n’ shiny on the first day of Orientation Week. The process is protracted, requiring letters of recommendation, auditions, considerable preparation, and planning for the financial roundhouse punch that is modern-day tuition in a private college.
So what’s with the student who slacks off in the Core Curriculum classes to the point of risking (or achieving) failure? I do not refer to those kids who need some adjustment time, or who will wake up gradually over the course of their freshman year. (I was one such kid myself.)
My subject here is the student who could be progressing just fine, but seems nonetheless determined to fail. What combination of immaturity, insecurity, and insolence is required to manifest as such blatant stupidity?
I remember one chap who made sure that he failed on a regular basis (including his piano major), having had determined that he was going to prove to his parents what a horrible job they had done raising him. However, his actions proved no such thing. They merely proved what an utter idiot he was.
Ditto on the occasional student who develops an aversion to his teacher and opts to express that distaste by doing deliberately crappy work. I get the impression that such a student thinks he is sending his professor a message along the lines of “you suck.” Unfortunately, his actual message is “I am a moron.”
So there he/she is, at $33,000 per year (somebody is paying it, even if he/she isn’t) plus living expenses. Having tossed the proverbial hat into the ring to enter a profession notorious for limited opportunity, such a student throws away current opportunities with both hands, as fast as he/she possibly can.
Newbies at a conservatory often need time to find themselves. But the bonafide slacker? Put politely: unclear on the concept. Less politely: utterly and hopelessly clueless.