Music Therapy and Discoveries
How did I become a music therapist? It is a beautiful story, so here we go. Have you ever met someone magical, who fits into your life so perfectly that you find yourself forgetting that you only met this person recently? Someone who you keeps you marveling that he is, in fact, another person and not a tangible extension of yourself? Well I had the fortune of this magical experience when I met the music therapy professor at the University of Georgia for the first time. It was lunchtime sometime in the middle of the spring trimester, my first year of college, my major still undecided. I trekked out to the music school to see if I could take a piano lesson as an elective class. The answer was NO, but the director of the piano department tried to sell me on becoming a music major. I think I was more focused on my stomach growling than his descriptions of music education majors, performance majors, composition majors, and I don't know WHY I felt obliged out of politeness, to actually inquire when he mentioned music therapy. Before I knew it a phone call had been made, I was escorted down to the elevators and suddenly found myself outside the door of the office of the director of music therapy.
I was hungry, but without too much deliberation I decided I'd knock, make this a quick visit, politely decline any and all offers of becoming a music major, and be on my way to my favorite dining hall. I knocked. The door opened slowly and a seemingly ageless man smiled and welcomed me in. He had the look of a true professor, weathered with knowledge and his enthusiasm for spreading wisdom seeped through his eyes. I have always had an intensely strong desire to meet a wise "wizard" in my lifetime. A Merlin or Gandalf, someone who would take me in as a protege and teach me all the wisdom in the world. Although I didn't seem to notice at that moment, subconsciously I must've realized that this man stood a chance. !*! Nibbling a sandwich, he asked me to describe myself, not only musically but personally. Despite my shyness, I easily told him of my background, that I was terrible at reading music - that it grated against my personal definition of what music was to confine myself to the rigidity of black and white. He said reading music was rarely preferred in music therapy. !*! I said I liked to play by ear but I had never really found someone who could teach me that, and he said he loved to teach people to play by ear, being a pianist himself. !*! He described music therapy and its scope of practice, how it was utilizing one's own strengths as a musician and as a person to benefit many different kinds of people. Hmm, I had seriously considered being a pre-med major because I had a passion for helping people, but he was telling me I could use my greatest passion (music) to do one of my greatest passions (help people)? !*!
We continued talking, and almost everything I said he would agree with or would compliment my statement with an answer that was exactly what I would've wanted him to say - almost like he was reading my mind - or even better, my soul. It was almost like he had known me my whole life! Before I knew it we were both sitting at the piano playing hymns and oldies, and in just a few minutes he was already challenging me in areas I had always dreamed to be challenged in. Then it hit me. All the excitement that had been exponentially growing in my subconscious from our initial eye contact to our conversations to now playing the instrument of our greatest passion, suddenly rushed to my awareness, hitting me hard and causing my hands to shake and my mouth to curl into a smile that I couldn't turn down. After a long while at the piano our time came to an end and shocked we realized that 2 and 1/2 hours had passed. I was wished well as I went home to ponder the option of becoming a music therapist and I thanked him for what he had already done for me. I still remember the feeling in my legs as I walked away from the music building, the purest form of excitement and love, for life, for people, for passions, and little did he know I wouldn't have to do any thinking for it was already decided. I had found my teacher of wisdom, my wizard of wise, I had found Dr. Grant.
On other news! My cousin Joanna Bayens was recently crabbing in my Aunt's back yard tidal creek in Richmond Hill, GA, when she found a MASTODON TOOTH in the mud! I have always been so so so interested in archeology, and Joanna has found a tooth from an animal that was last seen on Earth 13,000 years ago. This excites me every time I look at the picture, so have a look at this monstrous molar!!! Congratulations Joanna!
Love,
Luci
I was hungry, but without too much deliberation I decided I'd knock, make this a quick visit, politely decline any and all offers of becoming a music major, and be on my way to my favorite dining hall. I knocked. The door opened slowly and a seemingly ageless man smiled and welcomed me in. He had the look of a true professor, weathered with knowledge and his enthusiasm for spreading wisdom seeped through his eyes. I have always had an intensely strong desire to meet a wise "wizard" in my lifetime. A Merlin or Gandalf, someone who would take me in as a protege and teach me all the wisdom in the world. Although I didn't seem to notice at that moment, subconsciously I must've realized that this man stood a chance. !*! Nibbling a sandwich, he asked me to describe myself, not only musically but personally. Despite my shyness, I easily told him of my background, that I was terrible at reading music - that it grated against my personal definition of what music was to confine myself to the rigidity of black and white. He said reading music was rarely preferred in music therapy. !*! I said I liked to play by ear but I had never really found someone who could teach me that, and he said he loved to teach people to play by ear, being a pianist himself. !*! He described music therapy and its scope of practice, how it was utilizing one's own strengths as a musician and as a person to benefit many different kinds of people. Hmm, I had seriously considered being a pre-med major because I had a passion for helping people, but he was telling me I could use my greatest passion (music) to do one of my greatest passions (help people)? !*!
We continued talking, and almost everything I said he would agree with or would compliment my statement with an answer that was exactly what I would've wanted him to say - almost like he was reading my mind - or even better, my soul. It was almost like he had known me my whole life! Before I knew it we were both sitting at the piano playing hymns and oldies, and in just a few minutes he was already challenging me in areas I had always dreamed to be challenged in. Then it hit me. All the excitement that had been exponentially growing in my subconscious from our initial eye contact to our conversations to now playing the instrument of our greatest passion, suddenly rushed to my awareness, hitting me hard and causing my hands to shake and my mouth to curl into a smile that I couldn't turn down. After a long while at the piano our time came to an end and shocked we realized that 2 and 1/2 hours had passed. I was wished well as I went home to ponder the option of becoming a music therapist and I thanked him for what he had already done for me. I still remember the feeling in my legs as I walked away from the music building, the purest form of excitement and love, for life, for people, for passions, and little did he know I wouldn't have to do any thinking for it was already decided. I had found my teacher of wisdom, my wizard of wise, I had found Dr. Grant.
On other news! My cousin Joanna Bayens was recently crabbing in my Aunt's back yard tidal creek in Richmond Hill, GA, when she found a MASTODON TOOTH in the mud! I have always been so so so interested in archeology, and Joanna has found a tooth from an animal that was last seen on Earth 13,000 years ago. This excites me every time I look at the picture, so have a look at this monstrous molar!!! Congratulations Joanna!
Love,
Luci
posted at
11:15 AM
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