If you have attended any of our services this summer you may have noticed a new violinist.  Megan Fee has been serving as an Intern in our Music Department since the end of May.  She has been busy playing the violin in our orchestra.  She has also been directing our choir and orchestra.  Today, I have asked Megan to answer 10 questions so that we can get to know her a little bit better.

1. Where are you from?  I’m from Granger, Iowa, and I’m a senior at Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa.
2. Is it true that there really is nothing but corn fields in Iowa? Well, when it’s not a corn field, it’s a soy bean field. Most of the state is geared toward agriculture. However, I grew up in the city of Ankeny, not on a farm, because my dad works downtown Des Moines.
3. What is one highlight from your time in Florida so far? Just one thing? What if I love everything?  Well, I suppose one of the biggest highlights is being able to drive for under two hours and see the ocean! That will never be a viable option for people living in the Midwest.
4. Tell us about your family. My mom (Cindy) and my dad (David) celebrated 26 years of marriage this past April. My mom stays at home and homeschools my three younger brothers, Jacob (17), Caleb (10), and Joshua (8). My dad is a Senior Investment Consultant and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) for Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa, working with pension funds.  Jacob loves calculus, Caleb likes fishing, and Josh likes playing with his puppy.
5. What are your hobbies? Playing violin, baking pies, hiking, and exploring unique coffee shops and bookstores.
6. Why do violinists wiggle their fingers when they play the violin? That’s how we produce vibrato in the note, just like you can do when you sing. When you use vibrato in your voice, your vocal mechanisms relax.  In a similar way, the left arm needs to be relaxed, the left thumb should be anchored on the neck just enough to balance the finger on the string, and the finger on the string must stay flexible in order to produce a nice vibrato on the violin.
7. Why did you choose to go to Faith Baptist Bible College? God led me to Faith after I worked at Iowa Regular Baptist Camp the summer after I graduated from High School.  I had originally been planning to go to a secular university to major in Violin Performance, but God worked in my heart that summer and revealed to me a burden for serving in the church by reaching into the community to point people to Christ, developing consistent discipleship-oriented friendships with the young women in the church, and developing skills that would allow me to work as a part of the music staff at a church.
8. What is your major in college, and why did you choose it? I am currently finishing my Bachelor of Science in Sacred Music with an Emphasis on Violin Performance. Faith is a fully accredited Bible college whose mission is to equip students to take the Word to the World. The degree I chose to pursue there is a full Bible degree and a full Music degree, and I go to Iowa State University to study Violin Performance privately with Professor Borivoj Martinic-Jercic. The Music portion of the degree is all of the music classes any university would offer and require, such as music theory, aural skills, and conducting.  There are several additional classes added to it that are geared specifically toward music in the church.  These church music classes cover hymnology, music philosophies, choral writing and arranging, church music administration, leading and managing a church choir and orchestra program, choral literature, and a variety of other subjects.  I chose this degree because it provided teaching in everything I wanted to be equipped with in order to pursue what God had laid on my heart.

9. What is your current job back in Iowa? I currently teach a studio of 16 private violin students. I have a studio space that I reserve at the college, and I teach weekly individual lessons and group lessons there.  My students range in age from four years old to seventeen years old, and from beginners learning “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to advanced students studying various violin concertos and solo Bach Sonatas and Partitas.  My goal for my students is to produce well-rounded musicians that upon graduation from high school have an excellent repertoire of classical music, sacred music, and fiddle songs, are able to improvise a violin part from only guitar chords, and are able to audition into a good seat in a college orchestra.  I truly love teaching violin lessons and tracking my students’ progress at each semester’s recital, and Lord willing I will continue to expand my studio after graduation.
10. What do you plan to do with your degree upon graduation in the spring? Besides teaching, I am currently praying that God would direct me in His perfect timing to a full time job after graduation.  My ideal would be a support staff position at a church doing mostly administrative things relating to the church’s music programs, but I know that my God is sovereign over every aspect of my life, and I fully trust Him to open the doors to a job in His time, even if it is not what I thought I was going to be doing.  It is my heart’s prayer that I would walk the path He has laid out for me, regardless of who is on it, what is on it, or the places it leads through.  It is my ultimate goal to seek to know my God and to make Him known, to point people to Christ rather than to myself, and to live my life in a way that always gives all glory to God in word and in action, regardless of my circumstances.

Thanks Megan for taking the time to answer our questions!

Over the next several weeks, we will be collecting a love offering for Megan.  This offering will enable us to provide a scholarship for her as she returns to FBBC in Iowa.  If you would like to contribute, please make your contribution payable to Faith Baptist Church and simply mark it “Summer Intern.”

Happy Friday!  (and Happy Fourth of July tomorrow!)

Stephen