I am very excited that I get the opportunity to further my knowledge on the ukulele! I found drafting my growth plan a bit tricky because I do have some prior experience with the ukulele, but I wouldn’t consider myself at the intermediate level. I wanted to challenge myself while still picking tasks that would be achievable. My goal for the midterm is to learn three new songs, which is what I have begun working on now. The first song I have been practicing is “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson. My friend showed me this song a couple years ago when she first got a ukulele, and I thought it was a really sweet song. The chords were not too complex, and I like that the recorded version is with the ukulele because it allows me to really compare my playing to the song. The first time I attempted to play this song I felt a bit rusty, as I hadn’t played my ukulele in a while. However, I began to get my rhythm back and the song came to me a bit easier. I have mainly been focusing on playing the ukulele without the lyrics, but my next step is to practice singing while playing the ukulele simultaneously. I’ve found that playing with a lyric video on YouTube has been very beneficial because it allows me to practice proper timing and hear the lyrics as well. I think that I will feel pretty confident in this song within the next couple days. My next step after this is to learn the song “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” by Elvis Presley. I feel more nervous about this song as there are a lot more chords in a row and some chords that I do not have much experience with yet. It is a special song to me as a friend once performed it for me on the ukulele for my birthday, so I would really like to do it justice. For now, I will be continuing to work on the first song, with the intention of moving onto the next song by the weekend (October 9th).