Getting an internship, and what now

As some of you might know, in order to earn a bachelor's degree in music therapy, each student must complete a 1200 hour internship following eight full time semesters of classes. In order to have an internship, a student has to individually seek out and apply, interview, audition, etc., and finally be chosen. Most internships are unpaid (mine will be), and will last about six months.

My search for an internship was HARD. Part of me wanted to get out of Texas so that I could experience living somewhere else, but I also wasn't sure what population I wanted to work with. I applied to a lot of different internships, a lot out of state and I got a lot of no's. I ended up getting offered and accepting an internship in Texas and will be working primarily with individuals with special needs. After all of the no's and spending hours filling out applications, it was a relief to get an internship, but above that the music therapists that make up the practice are awesome and I feel like the no's were 100% worth it for where I ended up.

Because the process took so long for me to find an internship, I missed the opportunity to start it right after classes ended. I'm four months into the seven month gap and it definitely feels awkward sometimes trying to explain to people the situation. I haven't graduated but I'm done with classes. I'm a music therapy student bu I'm not really a student in the traditional sense. And in the spring I'll be working full time for free while paying tuition for a college three hours away. But being a music therapist is, I have been told, an exercise in patience and advocacy because you are constantly explaining what your career is, so I guess it's just practice!

What I'm doing now until my internship starts is:

1. Babysitting and petsitting
2. Working at a day program with kids with autism
3. Observing music therapists
4. Practicing
5. Figuring out life and hobbies now that I actually have free time!
6. Starting this blog

My next post will be about my mindset going through this time in my life.

Have a great day!