No Way!

In last month’s issue I shared my experience taking my first Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, the Preparatory A and, based on how poorly I performed the songs, I was certain I had failed.  I thought you might be interested in hearing how that turned out.

The exam was on January 18, 2025 and, according to the RCM website, the results would not be available until February 7th which was almost three weeks later.  An unbearable wait given how badly I felt I had done.  I had no idea why it would take so long, but it was what it was, not that it kept from checking the RCM site occasionally…just in case – you know what I mean.

When I logged onto the site on February 3 for another “occasional check,” there was a message at the top of the page saying the site would be down for most of the day on the 4th due to regular maintenance.  I had a hunch that meant that the results were going to be loaded into the site that day.

My hunch was right.  I logged in again on the 5th and, sure enough, my mark was there waiting for me and my eyes grew as wide as saucers – it was not at all what I was expecting.  I was certain I had failed and the most I could hope for was a 61 (pass was 60), but the number before me was far better than that – 81!  Had I failed, I certainly would have felt I deserved it and I already planned to retake the Preparatory A exam in June if needed – after all, I had unfinished business with that piano, didn’t I?  But 81?  WOW!  80-89 is “First Class Honours” – on my very first RCM exam!  Did I feel I deserved it?  Honestly, no, but remember from last month, the Examiner was a very kind lady and perhaps she was thinking, “I have an adult student here amongst all these kids; let’s not destroy her during her very first exam or we’ll never see her again.”  Of course, I don’t know exactly what she was thinking but what a kind soul she was to me.

The way this lady handled my exam, impacted me in two ways.  Firstly, I was immediately buoyed by the exam results.  I felt encouraged to continue on with the RCM program, and was quite excited to do so!  I promptly registered to take the Preparatory B exam on June 11th and had actually already started going through the Repertoire book to see which songs I liked.  Now it was full steam ahead since Preparatory A was done!

The second impact was my confidence.  Now that I had the first exam under my belt, I knew what to expect during the Preparatory B exam as it is marked exactly the same way as Preparatory A, just with different songs, scales, chords, etc.  Surely, the first exam would be the hardest since it was my first experience taking a RCM piano test, right?  Made sense to me.   That lady examiner positively impacted me with her kindness.  Had I failed, I would have tried again, but having passed, I felt encouraged and free to move forward unimpeded by the experience of the past.  To this day, she has no idea how she encouraged me and as I thought about her and how she affected me, it made me think about the impact I (and you) can have on others.  How we treat people says a lot about us and wouldn’t we all want to be the ones who buoy others on, empowering them to move forward in their lives unimpeded by their past experiences? 

Can you recall a time when someone was kind to you?

What effect did it have on you?

How can you be that person for others?

Recommended Resources

-          Mental Health Foundation – “Kindness Matters Guide” – https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/kindness/kindness-matters-guide

-          Blog by Stephanie Blay Muah – “The Importance of Kindness” – https://www.buildingbrains.ca/blog/the-importance-of-kindness

 Monthly Challenge

-          Can you recall the last time that a stranger’s kindness to you left a positive impact on you?  How can you pay that forward?