From Our Music Therapy Intern…
This week I have very little to say.
My mind is full and my energy reserve is empty. At this point, I am saving all efforts I have in order to get me through the next three and a half weeks.
I say this not as a negative, but rather, as honesty. I am dog tired and ready for a brain break. I know I will absolutely dread the day I walk out of HGMTS for the last time as an intern, but I am also really looking forward to relieving myself of the pressures and expectations that come with being an intern. I am constantly challenging myself to work harder and learn more, and though I should always strive to learn and improve, I feel as though I’ve run a mental marathon and I need to collapse to the ground and recover.
I have sat with my laptop open all day today, and I have struggled coming up with anything worthwhile. At this point in the internship, I am constantly spending time and energy kick-starting this new post-adoption program, planning for sessions, and travelling from Kalamazoo to Jackson and back.
I only have two more full weeks of working with the schedule and clientele I have had since September. For as excited I am to have a week and a half of office and wrap-up time after that to end my internship, I am putting off the thought of having to say goodbye to all of my clients. I have become so bonded with them, and they will always hold a special place in my heart.
These people have taught me about perseverance, pain, hope, happiness, strength, suffering, joy, loss, laughter, and life. I will never forget these relationships, and I will cherish these memories forever. They have impacted my view on life and have challenged me to see the world with new eyes.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I am aware that I may have a difficult time processing all that I have learned and experienced in this internship once it is over. I will then be hit with a new wave of revelations and realizations. I will have things I wish I would have done and things I wish I would have done better. I will have things I wish I had time for and things I wish I would have had energy for. Most of all, I will be humbled and grateful for the experience, and I will wish I could do it all over again.
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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.
