And Away We Go!!!
Today is Day one of the AMTA National Conference (on my schedule anyway!). I awoke at 3:30 (getting to be my typical time to wake during the week - don't know why. Hmmmm), and am sitting here, three hours later, mentally organizing my day while my nose drips and my roommate is sleeping deeply. I really love these moments at conference - quiet, anticipatory, and full of promise.
Today's schedule is as follows: 8am-3pm - Committee Meeting; 3pm-4pm - Joint Committee Meeting (my committee meets with another committee); 4pm-5pm - My Committee meets with our Council Coordinator and the Person in charge of Professional Programs; 5pm-6pm - My committee meets alone to wrap up stuff; 8pm-9pm - Committee Chair/Council Coordinator Meeting. Then, off to bed, for tomorrow brings a 7:30am CMTE (that I'm kinda in charge of...).
I really enjoy being on a committee for AMTA. I started off as a regional representative on the Association Internship Approval Committee (AIAC) and am now the chair. This volunteer opportunity has really exposed me to lots about what AMTA does for me and for other advocates of music as a therapeutic medium out there in the political, global, and universal communities. Did you know, for example, that AMTA will publish accepted texts, offering authors a very generous tax deduction for a charitable contribution?? I didn't until yesterday. It is amazing to see what happens at AMTA that I, the typical member, never know anything about!
Anyway - I really do enjoy my small role in AMTA, and I encourage all music therapists, music therapy students, and others interested in music therapy to find their place in the organization. Volunteer to be on a committee. Submit papers for publication. Engage in the social events available to you. Speak up when offered opportunities to talk about your opinions on important topics (like Master's-Level Entry, hint hint). If you have a concern, then air that concern to the people who can do something about it! Be involved in the organization - you will be surprised how much you will learn about the profession, about the people out there doing much the same thing as yourself, and how much you will learn about yourself.
I hope to see many of you in St. Charles.
Today's schedule is as follows: 8am-3pm - Committee Meeting; 3pm-4pm - Joint Committee Meeting (my committee meets with another committee); 4pm-5pm - My Committee meets with our Council Coordinator and the Person in charge of Professional Programs; 5pm-6pm - My committee meets alone to wrap up stuff; 8pm-9pm - Committee Chair/Council Coordinator Meeting. Then, off to bed, for tomorrow brings a 7:30am CMTE (that I'm kinda in charge of...).
I really enjoy being on a committee for AMTA. I started off as a regional representative on the Association Internship Approval Committee (AIAC) and am now the chair. This volunteer opportunity has really exposed me to lots about what AMTA does for me and for other advocates of music as a therapeutic medium out there in the political, global, and universal communities. Did you know, for example, that AMTA will publish accepted texts, offering authors a very generous tax deduction for a charitable contribution?? I didn't until yesterday. It is amazing to see what happens at AMTA that I, the typical member, never know anything about!
Anyway - I really do enjoy my small role in AMTA, and I encourage all music therapists, music therapy students, and others interested in music therapy to find their place in the organization. Volunteer to be on a committee. Submit papers for publication. Engage in the social events available to you. Speak up when offered opportunities to talk about your opinions on important topics (like Master's-Level Entry, hint hint). If you have a concern, then air that concern to the people who can do something about it! Be involved in the organization - you will be surprised how much you will learn about the profession, about the people out there doing much the same thing as yourself, and how much you will learn about yourself.
I hope to see many of you in St. Charles.
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