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Music, B.A. | Class of
Corey Tamondong
High School Music Teacher
Employer: Brookings-Harbor High School
Job description: I am the Director of Music at Brookings-Harbor High School in Brookings, Oregon. I teach band (marching/pep/symphonic band), concert choir, chamber/jazz choir, string orchestra, intro to band and orchestra instruments, and jazz band.
About Corey
Why did you choose this program?
I chose Humboldt because I loved the idea of studying in a relatively small school with lots of opportunities and plenty of individual instruction. The Music department at Humboldt is unique in that it offers a wide variety of ensembles for the size of the school. Also, the natural beauty of the area was a huge draw for me. The redwood forests, rivers, Humboldt Bay, dunes, beaches, marsh, and more make Humboldt unique and it's hard to find a place to study that gives you access to all these at once!
How did this program prepare you for your job?
Humboldt's music education program has an emphasis in crafting well-rounded educators. Humboldt music education students are prepared in a way that no matter what K-12 music program they end up teaching at, they are able to be successful. For example—I teach band, choir, orchestra, beginning instruments and jazz band. Humboldt requires music education majors to take terms of every ensemble type possible, and encourages working on secondary instruments/voice to ensure a well-rounded music education. I am able to teach every one of these ensembles because I received high-quality instruction in many different ensembles on a diverse array instruments.
What did you enjoy most about the program?
I enjoyed the small class sizes I had at Humboldt. They allowed me to develop a much stronger rapport with all of my music professors than I would have been able to have at a larger school. That rapport helped me immensely in many ways as I was able to access my professors for help with concepts I didn't understand fully or to help me find solutions to things. I still am able to contact my professors today to ask for help as a music educator and they get back to me with lost of constructive feedback. There's not many programs where that is a possibility!
What would you say to prospective students who are thinking about applying to this program?
The years I spent at Humboldt were some of the best I ever had. I grew tremendously as a person and musician there and miss it a lot! Take advantage of all the opportunities this university has to offer, because many of them are incredibly unique.