Hello, everyone.
So I'm going to try to [INAUDIBLE].
So the title of my presentation today
is "Finding My Forte in the Music World."
So my name is Samantha, and I'm a senior here at Mount Holyoke.
And I am environmental studies and music double major.
And I started looking for internships last spring
in the environmental studies field.
I am very involved on campus with music [INAUDIBLE]
groups such as [INAUDIBLE] orchestra.
And I play in chamber groups.
And I teach flute lessons to [INAUDIBLE] students
[INAUDIBLE] studio.
I developed my own teaching methods.
But my whole life I have been doing orchestra and music,
and taking lessons.
So when I came to Mount Holyoke I
had the opportunity to receive something new.
And environmental studies is really
where my heart's at, about equally as much as music.
So I felt very [INAUDIBLE]
So I started looking for internships
in their environmental studies field.
And I found about 15 of them, and applied.
Didn't hear back from any of them.
And then I found another internship
which really resonated at home with me,
because it was at the Music Center, in Northampton, Mass.,
where I took flute lessons for ten years growing up.
And I'm very thankful to them for all their work
that they did with me.
Because I don't think I would be at Mount Holyoke
if it wasn't for all that they did, and places they sent me.
So I applied, and became their summer program assistant.
And of course, the music director--
he recognized my name immediately, and called me
[INAUDIBLE] hey, let's talk about it.
And he was like, of course, I would love to have you.
So I [INAUDIBLE] assistant.
And these are just some pictures of the camps out
of the newspaper this summer.
[INAUDIBLE] they always have budget cuts,
so we were talking [INAUDIBLE] about funding [INAUDIBLE]
So just to talk a little bit about the work that I did over
the summer-- so I cut a lot of bagels
for the camp's [? students. ?]
[LAUGHTER]
It's the classic thing that people [INAUDIBLE] interns
do is very small administrative tasks.
But they [? meet a ?] [INAUDIBLE].
So I cut the bagels for the camps.
[INAUDIBLE] Jamie Kent.
Jamie Kent is a rising star in country music.
And he released an album just this past week.
And he came to do a benefits concert for the organization.
Of course, NCMC is non-profit organization for the arts.
So they rely very much on [INAUDIBLE] community
to fund them.
So their mission is to make sure that any family, or child
or person, for that matter, who wants to learn music and take
lessons, has the opportunity to do it, regardless
of socioeconomic circumstances.
And they must have had 200 kids when I first
started at the Music Center, which
was, now, I think 13 years ago.
And now they have, I think, 800 students [INAUDIBLE]
So they've quadrupled in size, which is amazing.
So we do community outreach.
So I spent a lot of time writing donor thank you letters,
and learning the art of speaking with people
who will really support [INAUDIBLE] Music Center.
And I drove around and delivered catalogues, course catalogues
to local libraries.
I talked with parents, and community members that
came just to see concerts, who had never
even heard of it before.
Which was rarely, but when I did meet these people,
I had the opportunity to talk about my personal experience,
and how much good the [INAUDIBLE]
and how involved they are in [INAUDIBLE].
And I also-- one of the other great things
that I got to do-- they have a program that
outreaches to nursing homes.
And we try to bring music to nursing home communities, where
these elder [INAUDIBLE] people don't have the opportunity
to leave the building ever, because of health restrictions.
So it's really important for them, and really beneficial
to have music come into the nursing homes,
and they get to experience a little bit
of the outside world.
Like normally, they don't even have family
that comes and visits them.
So that was a really humbling experience for me,
to come in and find these people appreciating music so much.
Also, Musical Jeopardy.
I got to plan my own day.
And that was the teaching aspect of it
that I really found very useful.
So I got to plan my own Musical Jeopardy day
with one of the chamber camps.
And I got to run my own class.
I had to come up with a bunch of questions
that ranged for students who didn't know anything
about music history, or theory.
There's a huge range.
So I had to come up with questions
for the seasoned musician, who has taken theory
in high school, to the person who, like me at the time,
didn't know anything about composers and [INAUDIBLE]
So there's a bunch of pictures of dogs on the screen,
because I did a lot of house sitting for the summer.
And I just want to talk a little bit about my reflection
on the whole experience.
So while I was doing all this administrative work,
and working with the camps, I had a lot of down time.
When it was like after my internship,
or sitting at my desk, when there
were no camps in the building.
And I found that I had a lot of time
to think about [INAUDIBLE] music,
was the direction I wanted to go in.
And how much I wanted to include it [INAUDIBLE] my life.
Because a lot of us were liberal arts students,
which means we have multiple interests.
That's why we're here, most of us.
But we all are really very well-rounded.
And so I found that as much as I love
working in the music building, and my director, and just
teaching and everything, I realized
that I like working one on one with students
who are very motivated.
I like having the opportunity to build that connection
with them.
But I don't think I want to take it further than that.
So then I started using the rest of my spare time
to look into environmental programs more.
And I did hear back after I was accepted to this internship,
from a lot of those environmental organizations.
But for the job security of having
an internship over the summer, I was able to work with them.
But now that I'm a senior, and I'm
looking more into finding a job by the end of this year.
I'm really grateful for the time that I
had to reflect on how much I want music in my life.
And all the time that I had to research
all these environmental [INAUDIBLE] who are [INAUDIBLE]
So as far as future plans go, like I said,
I'm [INAUDIBLE] I don't think music is entirely my focus.
But I found [? had to be ?] in my life.
And I think whether or not you end up
in a internship that is like your dream internship,
or one that [? you found ?] interesting,
I think that if you have a choice, [INAUDIBLE]
the opportunity to reflect [INAUDIBLE] what you want.
So any experience you have is [? useful. ?]
And I just wanted to say thanks to [INAUDIBLE]
for [INAUDIBLE] for us.
And I want to say thanks to the [? CMC. ?] And of course,
[INAUDIBLE] Music Center, [? because ?]
[? I don't ?] [? think I would ?] [INAUDIBLE]
[? happened ?] about them helping me grow with
a extra-curricular activity that was so [? motivating ?]
and so [? much ?] [INAUDIBLE]
So [? thanks for ?] [INAUDIBLE]
[APPLAUSE]