For many people, music is a part of their everyday lives. It is the background noise while studying, or the focus of making a perfectly curated Spotify playlist.
For music majors at SRU, it is not just for entertainment. Music is an everyday commitment.
Isabela Montes is a sophomore with a dual major in music therapy and voice performance. She has been involved in music from an early age, influenced by her parents.
"My mom always sang through high school," Montes said. "She was in musicals and stuff, and has a small group of friends she does gigs with sometimes."
She also talked about her dad's love for dancing.
"My dad's Hispanic, so my parents loved salsa dancing. So music was a huge influence my entire life," Montes said.
Montes discovered the music therapy program at SRU when she was in high school and attended the "Music Major for a Day" event. When she learned more about the program, she realized it was exactly what she wanted to study in school.
"High school was the first time I realized, 'wait, I can do music as a career and actually have a stable income'," she said. "And I just knew that was the direction I wanted to go."
Something unique about music majors' schedules is the choice of counting ensembles for credit hours. While some may think of ensembles as only extracurricular, music majors can select to register for them as classes.
Students who wish to be involved in an ensemble can select for the ensemble to be worth any amount from 0 to 3 credits.
Music majors are no strangers to 8 a.m. classes. For Montes, her classes run every day from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Choirs, ensembles, and clinicals take up afternoons and evenings.
During common hour, students have the opportunity to watch their fellow music majors during performance hour.
Each music major is required to sign up for at least one performance hour a semester. "It's a great way to support our friends and see what everyone's working on," Montes said.
Something unique about SRU's music therapy program is that, starting sophomore year, music therapy majors participate in clinicals every semester.
"We get to work with clients that come into our clinic on campus, and that's super helpful for getting ready for the career, because we get to experience it before we actually go out and do it," Montes said.
Montes discussed how she is being prepared for her career by learning musicianship skills, a psychology background and the healthcare aspects of music therapy. She is preparing to possibly work in a school or hospital setting.
"A lot of people think that we just play music and it heals people," Montes said about the misconception around music therapy. "It does actually have clinical purpose. Everything we do, and every musical activity that we do in a session, is done with the purpose of achieving a medical goal."
Montes also chose to major in vocal performance because she wants to keep her options open for her future career. "I love performing, and I'd love to continue that as a hobby. But also, I could see myself eventually opening up a voice studio or teaching voice students," she said.