A Journey to Volterra Pt. 2
We pick up where we left off! We’re in June, one month away from the XVIth edition of the Volterra Project. As I was mostly done with college submissions and exams, I’d had some time to take a step back and look things over. It seems that’s when we really take our wiser decisions! At this point there were two slots left for the workshop and applications were still open. I saw that as a sign and decided to just send in an application even if it was impossible for me to go; or so I thought…
I drafted a good personal statement letter and sent in my application. Alongside that, I also wrote a nice letter to the director explaining the (financial) situation I was in, and tried to see if there were any scholarships that I was eligible for. I was unlucky. I wasn’t eligible to any of the existing scholarships and I was too late for them to try and find me a potential sponsor. It probably wasn’t meant to be, but I was still on the look out for any signs of hope. As with anything and everything I long for, may that be long-term or short-term, I write it on a piece of paper and stick it on my bedroom door. This was no exception; I put up that sheet of paper that read “I’m grateful for the fact that I’m taking part in the Volterra Project free of charge.”
The reasoning behind this potentially ridiculous technique is, by doing so you force yourself to read that statement every time you go in and out of your room, to a point that you start believing that it’s true. Once that happens, the rest will take care of itself, without a doubt.
As a last resort, I decided to write to college. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t help me because it had nothing to do with college itself, and it most definitely wasn’t a necessity! Through some miracle, I was informed that the Director of the Royal College of Music had a trust fund going on at this exact same time. And after a well-constructed email presenting my case, I was offered full tuition for the workshop!
Through another miracle, I was able to get a Schengen Visa in a seemingly impossible time frame. I had a friend in the Greek Embassy who was able get me an early appointment through her connections, and somehow it all fit together perfectly.
Going there was everything I was expecting and beyond. Such a delightful experience meeting all these fantastic young guitarists, and the workshop itself was just fantastic. It was a dream come true working with a master of the trade like Antigoni Goni, and it certainly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience working on Bogdanovic’s composition with him! Life had worked its magic once again!
As a nonbeliever in the idea of destiny, or at least the rigidity that people assume it has, I believe whatever I long for will manifest itself in physical form if and if it’s good for me. See, I believe that you can have the most far fetched goal, but still achieve it only if you truly believe that you can. Once you set that goal, life will find ways beyond our understanding and perception to make it a reality. May my life be a testimony for that. Over and out!