Travel
One thing that I love to do is travel. The thought of going somewhere new and experiencing things different than what I am used to is exciting to me. Here are pictures of when I traveled to various places. Enjoy!
Here is a picture of me and some friends during Hope College's Wind Ensemble tour to Boston in the spring of 2014. We spent one of our days off walking the Freedom Trail and stopped to take a picture of the site of the Boston Massacre.
This picture is of Hope College's Wind Ensemble during our tour to New Orleans in the spring of 2012. We had one day off in the city during our week and a half of tour, and we spent it sight seeing in the French Quarter.
To the right is a picture of when I traveled to London after my study abroad experience in Vienna, Austria. I spent six days in London and was wonderfully overwhelmed by the history and culture that surrounded me.
Above is a picture of when I hiked in the Alps during my study abroad trip to Vienna, Austria. I spent two months studying and traveling in Vienna, along with many other countries. The trip in the Alps was my favorite and most rewarding adventure.
Washington D.C. and New York City are two of my favorite places in the country. I take any opportunity to go visit! I love learning about our country's history from all of the museums and monuments in D.C. The picture to the left was taken from my last visit in 2017 during the Cherry Blossoms Festival. To the left is a picture from my last trip to NYC in 2019. I finally saw Hamilton on Broadway! As a musical theatre nerd my heart just about exploded from happiness that night.
Special Education
While I am not certified in special education, I have had many experiences working with children with special needs and disabilities. It is another passion of mine and I love spending time with these children. Music therapy is something that I have always been interested in which led me to do research on it during my senior year of college. During this time I studied music's effects on developmentally disabled children and was also given the opportunity to work with a young girl that had multiple disabilities.
To the left is a picture of me and the young girl I did music therapy with during my research semester at Hope. She and her grandma came to my senior recital in November 2014.
To the right is a picture of when I presented my research on music's effects on children with developmental disabilities. It was such a great experience to be able to discuss the research that I had been working on all semester with others.