Welcome to Gustavus Adolphus College’s Student Stories Series!
The Midwest Clinic: International Band and Orchestra Conference Attendee
Major: Music Education
What was/is your career opportunity/experience (i.e. internship, shadowing experience, research)?
I went to the Midwest Clinic in Chicago which is a conference for band and orchestra directors to network, learn more about their career, and learn about more resources for music education. The conference provides hundreds of sessions for learning teaching strategies, hearing the latest band, orchestra, and small ensemble compositions, and listening to discussions with composers and high level music educators.
How did you get the opportunity/experience? What steps did you take to achieve this?
I heard about the conference from my high school band directors and signed up to attend. I also know quite a few Gusties who have attended and encouraged me to do the same.
Tell us more about your accomplishment.
At this clinic, I attended sessions about preparing to conduct rehearsals, how composers want conductors to interpret their music, and jazz improvisation. These sessions have taught me a lot about how to approach conducting and directing in my future job and have built upon the foundations of conducting and teaching which I have developed at Gustavus.
Who were some of the people who helped you most at Gustavus to get this opportunity? What did you learn from them?
At Gustavus I mostly had help from the Center for Career Development through the Engaged Learning Fund. I was also encouraged by my fellow music ed majors and friends who have also attended in the past.
How did the Engaged Learning Funds help you be able to complete this experience?
The Engaged Learning Fund helped me tremendously in making this opportunity possible for me. The last two years I have been able to attend this conference at no cost to myself because of this fund and I am extremely grateful for having access to it. I know that not all schools have something like this for students to go after career development opportunities so I think that every student at Gustavus should take advantage of the Engaged Learning Fund.
How have you applied things you’ve learned here at Gustavus to this opportunity? (i.e., Career & Self Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, Technology)
Gustavus is a big promoter of getting hands on experience and taking every available opportunity to learn. I would say that the Gustavus way encouraged me to take advantage of this opportunity.
