Welcome!

Welcome to MTI in the ATL! My name is Andrew, and on September 10th 2010, I will be starting a 7 month internship with the Fulton County Schools in Atlanta, Georgia.

This blog will serve as my senior project during my internship. My hope is that music therapists (interns, students, and professionals) and non MT's alike will find it to be a valuable resource.

I'll spare you the details of my life story (you can read all about that under "About Andrew", a fascinating read, to be sure) and jump right into my vision for this blog. I want this blog to serve as a tool for other interns or those getting ready to intern. I plan on covering everything; from the big issues to the mundane.

So some days you'll find activity ideas or great song suggestions for sessions. Some day's you'll find tips for finding a place to live, cheap dinner recipes, or ideas for experiencing your new city. I have plans for interviews with other interns, professionals, and whoever else is kind enough to let me pick their brain as well.

But I would also like this blog to serve as a place for me to write down my thoughts and experiences during the next 7 months. I know for me, and I imagine for most other interns, starting this journey will be one of the most challenging transitions in my life. For the first time in my life, I won't be living the "student life". And trust me, I adore the student life (no class till 10 and I'm done at 2? Woohoo!) But alas, that's all over now. Just like that, it's time to move to a new city and work 40 hours a week. Time to buy some more ties and dress socks. When you've been a student for the last 17+ years, that can be scary! So I fully anticipate this experience to be as challenging as it will be rewarding.

With that in mind, I also want to be as "real" as possible with my thoughts here. I don't want to just blow smoke. When I have an awesome day, one of those "ah-hah!" moments, I'll write all about it. When I have an awful day, one of those "why didn't I get a business degree?" moments, I'll write all about that too (depending on how football season goes, there may be some Sunday morning "I can't believe we lost to so-and-so" moments as well). I want to be as honest as possible, because that's what I wanted to read and hear about the last few years as I thought about my internship.

So enough with the rambling! Let's get started! I've got some great ideas that I can't wait to dive into. So thank you for joining me. Please, leave lots of comments! I crave feedback. And if you enjoy what I put here, please pass along a link along to others! The greatest reward I can imagine getting out of this blog is to have someone enjoy it enough to share it with someone else.

That or a sweet job offer when I graduate...