Caroline Williams

Have you ever been dumped by your voice teacher?

It's sad at first- oh wait, let me clear this up. I was not dating my voice teacher.

"What do you want, Caroline?" she asked me one day through the Zoom screen (this was the COVID spring).

I responded by sliding down my chair and out of her sight.

She continued, unabashed. "We're at a point where I think you need to go somewhere else. You have a lot of potential, and it's time for you to spread your wings and fly," she said. "So, what do you want to do?" (This is starting to sound like a Hallmark movie-esque break up. No student-teacher boundaries were harmed in the making of this story).

I thought for a minute. It was pretty obvious that I was at a bit of a standstill in my 20-year-old life. Tired of switching majors and disliking the actual school part of school, I dropped out of college to go experience "the real world." It was amazing at first - I worked as a personal assistant, performed in a musical, volunteered with a community nonprofit, and signed up to have lunch with my sister at her school on Fridays. Life might have continued blissfully in that way if March 2020 hadn't happened. Suddenly, all those things except voice lessons were unable to occur, and no one had any idea if or when they would come back. I knew I wanted to go back to school at some point, but had been avoiding considering if this was the right time.

When my teacher asked that question, all the things that I loved (and missed so much) swarmed in front of me - community events, theater, music, working with kids... and they all seemed to merge together in one place.

"Music Therapy," I said.

Despite my initial response to her question, this answer felt correct. When I was in high school, my younger sister received services from a woman in this unusual profession. I grew up playing classical piano, and my mom pointed out that I'd probably really enjoy being a music therapist. My mom is usually right. All my values, all the activities I cherished and loved, and so many of my passions seemed like they could be found in this field.

The rest, as they say, is history. I got my music therapy degree, became board-certified, and got licensed in the state of Maryland (and then the state of Georgia, when I moved here).

When the Music Studio Atlanta reached out to me on Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised to find they were looking for a music therapist! Cecilia told me who she was looking for, what she thought a music therapist could offer here, and followed through by listening to what I was looking for in a job. I looked around on the website, learned about the incredible performance opportunities for students, read some glowing teacher reviews, and I was sold!

Sometimes you just need the right questions, from the right person, to find out where you want to be. I am honored to be a music therapist for The Music Studio Atlanta!

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