Slowly but surely...

...she's finding her way. I'm happy to report that my lil sissy is applying for grad school in the fall!!!! For me, grad school was just a given- I mean, what else do you do after 4 years of studying classical voice? You study for 2 more! Or, two more after that, or maybe 3 more after that, school school school. Sometimes, I think people stay in school to avoid dealing with the "real world". My sister chose to live the life of a vagabond, moving around, not having a serious job, and sewing her wild oats. (And I can vouch for the wildness- she's already planned my strip club trip for my June visit.)
However, she has recently remembered that she actually does love playing the oboe, and she's a damn good player too, so why NOT go to grad school? She will have the opportunity to study with a great teacher (and we all know that is what it's all about), gain more experience, make some friends with whom she'll have more in common than love of PBR, and figure out if she wants to pursue performing full force, or on her own terms.

I have given her this advice: it's going to be expensive and very hard. But, the fact that you have chosen to pursue a career path where most people do not understand/fail/give up will be worth every penny. I truly believe that.