Embrace the Journey
Hello everyone! My name is Leah Kazuko Padilla, and I am a new intern here at The Music Therapy Center of California. I thought for my first blog post I could share a little bit about who I am, and my journey that brought me to sunny San Diego. I was born and raised in the Boston area and went to Berklee College of Music for my studies in music therapy. I moved to San Diego from Pensacola, FL, as my husband is in the Navy and was stationed there.
When I was finishing up my last year in college, my husband called to tell me we would be living in Pensacola. My first thought was to check if there were any internships in that area, as I was in my internship preparation class at the time. After searching, the closest internship I could find was almost 3 hours away, so the faculty at Berklee worked hard to find an opportunity for me. We ended up putting something together, but in the end that fell through as well. When this happened, I cried. I felt like my dream of becoming a music therapist was slipping through my fingers, fading away. I didn’t know it then, but everything would turn out just the way it was supposed to.
In hindsight I think this was the universe telling me I needed a break, as I was extremely burnt out after finishing college. At the time, I just wanted to get to the finish line and become a music therapist as soon as possible, but I was slowly losing sight of my “why”. When I was forced to take a break, it gave me time to grow. I was able to join a singing group for military spouses, which not only scratched my itch for performing, but gave me so many precious memories. I also was able to make some close friends at the customer service job I had there, whom I adore and still keep in touch with. With each day that passed, I became increasingly excited for the day I would get to be back in the music therapy world. Session planning, filling out data, practicing new repertoire, sweating while you’re running around carrying ALL the instruments, just being able to witness music therapy do what music therapy does… Then, finally, my husband got his new orders: California!
I don’t miss the weather in Florida, that’s for sure. But I do miss my lovely Belles, my sweet friends I made while chatting at the service desk, all the good eats, the comforting and familiar path I would take to walk my dog every night, and the list can go on (to the surprise of Leah in 2024). Everything that has happened has brought me right here, to the end of week two of my internship. Yes, there were some detours (and the military movers did in fact drop off an alarming amount of our household goods moldy and broken), but my family and I made it through a cross country road trip safe and sound (and had some fun too!). Now I finally get to pursue my dream, refreshed and focused. I am so very grateful to be here, and am looking forward to the journey of internship.
Leah K. Padilla, MTI
Me at graduation.
Some of my friends from work.
The Blue Anchor Belles
Me and my pets on the roadtrip to CA.
The first thing my husband and I ate when we arrived to CA was In-N-Out
My locker and my bag!
- Leah Kazuko Padilla, MTI
