Hello all!
I thought I would share my experiences with you about transitioning into a new phase of life. It is definitely a learning curve to go from being a full time student to being an full time intern, going from doing a million different things to focusing only on music therapy (but still doing a million things).
I had a thought today about why this is a different feeling of nervousness and apprehension. As a full-time student, I am used to being graded and judged accordingly of course, but my professors are also grading and judging 50 other students. Here at my internship, I am the only “student,” meaning, all eyes are on me. It is a different kind of pressure that I am learning to recognize and work with. Expectations are the same but also different at the same time. I have the basic schooling in music therapy. I studied it for 5 years, but now I am learning to use the knowledge and skills from my studies in the real world, and that takes getting used to.
Something I have learned in this first month of internship is that nothing is set in stone and how much wiggle room there is when facilitating music therapy. We have to go with the flow in order to meet clients needs. However, you can’t be comfortable in that space of adaptability without having a strong foundation. A previous professor of mine posted on facebook a few weeks ago something that stood out to me.
“Practice strong fundamentals because there are no advanced skills. There are simply advanced situations that require strong fundamentals.”
I do not think I am quite there yet with my fundamentals, but I have recognized how important they are and where I need to be. Once I build that strong base and feel comfortable with that, I can build off of those skills. That is how I can become the best music therapist I can be and how I can form that connection with clients and help them grow.
-Leah Young, Music Therapy Intern
