My Why
For my 3rd blog post, I thought that it would be a fun idea to write about why I chose music therapy as my career. I was assigned to make a presentation about this same topic, and I have to present it in front of the whole team as well, so wish me luck for that!
My parents are both musicians, so music has always been a huge part of my life. My dad took a picture of me with every instrument so that when I grew up and inevitably became a musician, I would have a baby pic with my instrument. I guess they were right!
As I became older, I grew to really enjoy performing. Even though I was on the shy side, I just loved to be onstage singing. My passion started with singing with my mother at church events, then I joined the Boston Children’s Chorus, which gave me so many amazing opportunities. From there, I joined every opportunity that my high school had in the performing arts (choir, jazz band, dance, drama club, and music recording classes).
When it was time to apply to college, I was hesitant about pursuing music. The plan was to go to college, study psychology, and become a therapist. Psychology was another big interest of mine, and I knew that I wanted to help people, so this seemed like a good plan. But it felt wrong leaving music behind. So I auditioned for Berklee on a whim. Berklee was the only music college I applied for, and it was a last minute decision, so I told myself, “if I get into Berklee that is my sign that I should do music.” Well, spoiler alert, I got in! Now what? Well, ultimately my mother would only let me go if I agreed to study music education so “at least you’ll be able to make money.”
So then my journey as a music education major started. Around my 4th semester, I started to feel really burnt out. This was during remote learning (due to a certain virus), so that came with its own challenges as well. I was just not feeling inspired or driven to do any of my work. I remember that it was a specific class about studying for a test to get your teaching license (or something like that) and at the time I really couldn’t care less. I felt so lost and unmotivated, I didn’t know what I was going to do next. Thankfully, things slowly started to move back in person, and I joined an a capella group. This is where I met some friends, and when I told them about my predicament, they told me about their major: music therapy. I had never heard of music therapy, so when those words came out of their mouth, I knew I had to look into it immediately. After curiously taking an intro course, I switched my major to music therapy, and things finally started to feel right. After a few more years, I finished my coursework and walked at the 2024 commencement ceremony.
Something else I included in my presentation was my support system. When I was listening to other team members’ presentations, many of them included this, and I think that is so important. So here I go! Of course my husband has been my rock through everything. It is such a good feeling to come home to him and our two cutie patootie pets after a long day. Additionally, my close friends are family to me, so I have to give them a shoutout as well. Since I am new to the area, I am still looking for groups I can join to meet more people as well (perhaps a choir or something like that).
And finally, my ‘why’ statement: “I hope to use my musical talents and passion for the therapeutic power of music to help clients heal, connect, and achieve goals through music therapy.” That is for now at least, I feel like I need more time and experience to really get it right, but for now this is good.
That is all for this post. I hope this was interesting and let you all know a bit more about little ol’ me. See you in the next one!
Leah K. Padilla, MTI
