It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost six years since I finished my graduate coursework in music therapy at Illinois State University. But lucky me, because I get to go back this weekend and hang out with music therapy students at their student organization’s Night of Music Therapy.
It really does seem like just yesterday that I was taking my first music therapy class and realizing I had found the perfect profession. Two years of classes and practicum experience later, I went off to St. Louis to begin my internship; nine months after that, I was suddenly in the “real world”.
That is one of the topics I’ll be covering in my presentation — making that scary transition from student/intern to professional. Finding a job, starting a private practice, making your mark on the field, and of course, a little songwriting and recording thrown in for good measure.
Because even though six years have passed since I was in those students’ shoes, I still remember exactly how it feels. I had so many questions about working as a “real world” music therapist, and that list of questions only grew as I got closer and closer to becoming one. Hopefully I can answer some of theirs tomorrow.
And the music therapy fun doesn’t stop there, because on Sunday I’m headed to Chicago for a collaborative workshop at the Old Town School of Folk Music. This is officially the last event I’ll organize as the outgoing secretary/programming chair for the Illinois Association for Music Therapy, and hopefully it will be as wonderful as last year’s workshop.
I hope you have a fun and exciting weekend in store, too. Bonus points if it involves music in any way :) Happy Friday!
