From our Music Therapy Intern…
The Move:
It has happened! The biggest event in HGMTS internship history! We have officially moved buildings and are now working on the fine-tune details of getting ready to reopen for business. My husband, dad, siblings, and I spent the majority of our Saturday last weekend helping to pack, load, and unload the contents of Harmony Garden into the new office space. We enjoyed spending time with the other women of HGMTS, their husbands, as well as family and friends who were all there to help. The day flew by, and the workload was light! There were so many helping hands that it barely felt like lifting a finger!
I spent this work week tinkering away in the office, unloading each box into its respective room, helping to mount guitar hooks, and wiping moving dust off of all surfaces. With over three times the square footage and twice as many treatment rooms, it was difficult to decide which room would get what instruments. We’ve never had the opportunity to share the load this generously! Once all of the belongings had been distributed, I started to wonder how we ever managed to fit all of it in the tiny office space we occupied prior.
The Midterm:
Midterms. College students cringe. Fear and despair loom in the air. Failure threatens to swallow you whole. Everything hinges on this one day. Your whole life, dependent on your midterm evaluation…or so it can feel.
I remember dreading midterms when I was enrolled in college classes simply because they seemed to be worth an unruly amount of points towards your final grade. They were daunting, and they were supposed to be difficult. I always found myself spending an unhealthy amount of time stressing and predicting the worst possible outcome, only to be underwhelmed by the actual difficulty of the midterm and ashamed of my irrational fears.
In my experience so far, however, this internship is unlike any other college class I have ever taken. This internship is not about points, grades, extra credit opportunities. It is not about comparing myself to my classmates or wondering how I stack up. It is about personal growth in a realistic work setting. It is about learning from those who are professionals in the topic I’ve been studying for 6 years now. It is about being challenged uniquely and specifically based on my personal needs and abilities. It is about the real life application of what all that time spent sitting at a desk in a classroom has prepared me for.
I entered my midterm evaluation meeting with excitement and hope rather than fear and anxiety. I got to spend uninterrupted, individual time with my supervisor (Jaime) in order to talk about how far I’ve come and what goals I can strive for in the next three months. I was delighted to hear that I am on track towards becoming a professional music therapist, and I was motivated by hearing that I still have areas that need improving and strengthening. I was so humbled that Jaime and Bekah would take time out of their busy lives to evaluate my progress thus far and type it all up in a thorough review to be used for my own learning purposes.
I respect all of the women at HGMTS so much and I am inspired by the quality of service they provide to their clients, the leadership and guidance they provide to me, and the friendship they provide to all those around them. I hope to make them proud and finish strong in the last three months here as an intern. I am surrounded by a team of supporting, encouraging, and caring people who wish nothing but the best for me. I could not be in a better place than under the direction of Jaime and Bekah at the beautiful HGMTS of W Franklin!
The Intermission:
I have been blessed with a full week off for Christmas break, and I am so very grateful for this opportunity. My brain has been absorbing so much new knowledge and information in the past three months that it is in desperate need of a time to simply be. Granted, I will probably spend a good amount of time working on completing my midterm project, but this will be at my own pace and on my own time. All of the learning experiences I have had at HGMTS have been wonderful, and I have no complaints whatsoever. I am just tired and excited for a week to catch up on lost sleep and time with family!
I hope to be able to enter the new year with a newfound energy and motivation to continue this journey! I have had great conversations with Jaime and Bekah about what is next on my docket, and I must say, I am very excited. I can’t wait to fill you all in as I march on into 2020!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
(Included are a few photos of me enjoying the vast amount of space in the new office, as well as the Christmas decor in my parent’s festive home. Enjoy!)
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Hannah Avery is our very first Music Therapy Intern here at Harmony Garden Music Therapy Services. Stay tuned for her blog posts as she goes (and grows) through her music therapy internship.
