New Year’s Goals for 2011

As discussed in a previous post, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish in 2010. You can read that post to see how successful it was. Here’s my list of goals for 2011. 

1. Learn two new piobaireachds. This was my first goal from last year, and I’ll keep it around. Adding tunes to the repertoire is always good, and I’ll expand this by saying that I’d like to learn a new brebach tune (maybe Corinessan’s Salute), and a new fosgailte tune. Field of Gold is what I have in mind for the fosgailte, and that’s notable in that it will be the first 20th century piobaireachd that I will have learned.
2. Get a bagpipe sound that I’m really happy with. Sound is what I’ve probably struggled the most with over the years, and it becomes increasingly important in the higher grades. I’d like to step onto the solo competition field confident in my ability to produce a sound appropriate for a grade 1 player.
3. Check off three new states on my piping quest. Some time ago I decided that I should play my pipes in each of the 50 states, and it’s been a while (two years?) since I’ve added a new state. Connecticut, Delaware, and Tennessee are my targets for this year.
4. Graduate. At this point I have 21 credit hours left to earn for my master’s degree, and I’d like to graduate in December. If I don’t it will only be because of a required course that’s only offered in the spring, which I won’t know until sometime in April.
5. Work in a career-related summer internship. I’d like to learn more about the jobs available in the nuclear industry, and working in one is the best way to do it. I’ve applied for a position with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as several companies that do that kind of work.

What is on your to-do list for this year?