Alarm goes off at 6am. I wish. I didn’t go to sleep.

Sunday night I worked at 8pm til close. The next day I was going to Melton to observe a music therapist. Luckily the bar wasn’t at it’s hoppin’ extreme Sunday night, but I still got back home around 5am. So I thought to myself, what’s the point of going to sleep when I would have to be up in an hour and risk sleeping through my alarm. (’cause that happened last week…) So I pried my eyes open by watching some reality shows and got ready around 6, (Had to be at the school by 8). I booked it over to The Potter cafe to get my 7 shots of espresso worth of a soy mocha. Turns out, I didn’t even have to drink it, my pores soaked it all up. Before my discovery of a leakage in my to-go cup, my sizzlingly hot mocha was leaving it’s mark on my chest. Thank goodness I wasn’t wearing white. Oh wait, I was.

I was already heading over to Southern Cross Railway Station, so I couldn’t change. Once I arrived at the station, I marched myself to the bathroom and washed out my coffee stained shirt. If only I had a washboard…
My experience at this station was the worst. I went to the v-line ticket booth (because my train was on the line) and the santa-claus look-a-like man told me I had to go to Metro. So I did. Once I got there, the guy there told me I had to go to v-line. By this point, I had lost all remnants of my coffee, I was beyond late, and I had trekked up a few flight of stairs. I stomped away with my myki card and found my platform. Seeing that my train would leave at 9 and would take 45 minutes of travel time, I accepted the fact that I was going to miss the first class. I gave Cassandra (music therapist) a ring and she understood.

I arrived at the Melton Specialist School just in time of Cassandra’s planning period and only missed one class. This school is located in a rather poor community. The kids that attend the school range from pre-K to 18 years old. The students who are 16-18 are in a V-Cal program, which is a learning program for those who are not able to go into a full specialised career. The kids here are mentally handicapped, including autistic children, late developers, down syndrome children, and some are physically handicapped.

While Cassandra was away in her room teacher planning, I was observing P.E. Class. My time there was absolutely amazing. They worked on hand-eye coordination and as the kids were throwing balls and catching them with each other, one student-Dylan chatted me up. Throughout our conversation, I found out the type of music he enjoys and the shows he watches. Turns out my favourite T.V. show- big bang theory is also his. He loves Chris Brown and Justice Crew as well. Another young fellow- Danny, suffers from Palsy in his left arm. That didn’t stop him from participating. He actually has fantastic coordination.

It’s sad. This world. People residing Earth. How judgmental people are to the disabled, and other people in general. Humans have this despicable tendency to point out the defects upon meeting someone new. People ignore the homeless and give the most horrid looks to someone who doesn’t have a symmetrical face. As I talked to these kids and watched them, all I could see was how beautiful they were. How happy and caring they were. When they first met me, they didn’t distance themselves; they grabbed ahold of my hand and gave me a tour of their classroom. Never have I felt more welcomed. All the kids I met on this day, changed my outlook on the definition of “judgment”. I abhor it. People who do it, I distance myself from them. Bad energy as some may say. Autistic children are beautiful. The disabled in general have beautiful souls. They are the innocence of humanity. All they want is to be loved and to be treated as equals. They love more than “normal” people. I’m going to go more in detail of my day spent here, but I want to tell you all, these kids… they are my future. They are who I want to work with. If there is anything that will put a smile on my face, it is the smile of a child.

The emotions that rushed through me on this day was beyond overwhelming. The first music class (6-8 years) was my favourite class out of the entire day. Cassandra began class with a “hello” song and ended with a “good-bye” song. These kids, throughout the term have been learning different goals and virtues. This month is the month of responsibility and they learned a song to perform at their Assembly next week. They got up and stood in a line in the middle of the room. They began to sing as Cassandra accompanied with the guitar. They incorporated sign language into the song and it was a sight to see. All of my stress prior to arriving at the school was erased from my memory bank. Afterwards, Cassandra brought out her banana keyboard that provided sound effects to a book she read. As I sat back and observed, all I could do was smile. The kids were engaged and participated thoughtfully. At the end of class, Cassandra did a calming exercise where she brought out a parachute and had the kids lay on the floor, with their heads facing the middle. One child- Brock took my hand and told me to lay down next to him. I was touched. So I laid down next to him and music played through the stereo. The adults held onto the parachute and gently flapped it up and down. I thought I was already calm, but laying there next to Brock put me in this comatose state where I could’ve fallen asleep in a split second.

By the end of this class, I had fallen into deep infatuation of becoming a music therapist. The next class was the oldest group – 16-18 years old. Guys, I witnessed my inspiration/motivation in music. I never thought it would happen and would just have to constantly youtube search for it, but it has happened. My jaw was on the ground and my eyes were as open as my ethnicity would allow me. As most people will say, they are motivated by famous people, or those who represent high intelligence. For me, my inspiration comes from those who have natural talent. Those who have the ability to produce music from their heart and not from routine. Ever since I was 4, I played the piano. I have become one with the routine of practice (not really, but the idea) and have grown out of my love for it and am now despising it at the highest level. Then I see someone exude musical talent with zilch teaching and my love is re-sparked. Braedon is an autistic, 17 year old guy and has no desire to socialise with other children. All he wants to do is play the piano. If he has any instrument on hand, that instrument is receiving all the attention. Cassandra expressed her feelings about him saying how it’s sad that he is sociably handicapped, because he could be a concert pianist. I think he still has a chance. At the end of class, he plopped himself on the piano bench and started to play Hey Jude, by ear. For one, I become green with envy whenever I hear someone that is able to do that. To witness this though, is something else. I was envious of Braedon, but I was more proud and excited to see it happen in front of me. As he played, we all sang along and my eyes were glued onto him. Whilst playing, he would dip his head to the keys to listen, and I could tell that he could feel the music. When the “nanana” part came, he exclaimed “Ok guys, everyone sing! There are 16 ‘nana’s’!” He actually counted how many ‘nana’s’ there were. Awesome. He doesn’t talk to people, but he communicates pretty darn well. By music that is. That is his way of interacting with people/the world. Braedon is pure beauty. I am still pinching myself because I can’t believe I witnessed this. You could categorise him as a music savant. He is my musical inspiration.

I am incredibly thankful to Cassandra for letting me have this opportunity to shadow her and observe her ways of a therapist. I learned so much and all of my worries (if any) were wiped away and I now know for certainty, that music therapy is my prescribed path. I don’t care about people’s reaction anymore in terms of hearing what I want to do. In fact, a taxi driver once responded to my dream of becoming a music therapist by hesitantly saying, “oh… interesting…”. Sir, you drive people for a living, that must be thrilling. Oh to include on that note, he didn’t even know where the railway station was and had to look it up on his Iphone. I also had to pay for his incompetence. Bullocks.

Patience is the most important. One important factor I took away from my observation was that you need all the patience in the world to be a music therapist. Disabled children are a lot to handle, to put it bluntly, and they need every awakening moment of attention.

Every person is beautiful. In my travels, the people I have met, I believe there is a reason as to why I have met them. It may be a lesson to learn, or a never-ending friendship, doesn’t matter. These friendships I have developed, I reckon, are stronger than any of my relationships I have back at home. The children I spent the whole day watching and hanging out with, are gifts to humanity.

“Obviously, because of my disability, I need assistance. But I have always tried to overcome the limitations of my condition and lead as full a life as possible. I have traveled the world, from the Antarctic to zero gravity.” – Stephen Hawking