How Did I Get Here?

At the start of my Junior year, something was missing. Training in Musical Theatre, by necessity, can be a self-centered journey. I found that, after two years of intense training, I needed to plug into something bigger that wasn’t about me. After all, what is the point of having a gift as an artist if you don’t use it to engage in, and perhaps even better, the community around you? I just didn’t know where to find my community. Luckily, it found me. On a beautiful day in September, just before classes began, I was running in the arboretum near the entrance to Mott Children’s Hospital. As I ran through the rose garden at the entrance, I noticed a little boy. He was dressed in a hospital gown, had a shaved head and was being pushed in a wheelchair by a hospital worker. He had his eyes closed and his face turned upturned to the fall sunshine. It was so sad and beautiful that it took my breath away. Later that week, I was still thinking about that image of that little boy in the rose garden. I said, “Ok, God, if I’m supposed to do something about that, I’m going to need some kind of sign.” That afternoon, I was running in the arboretum again and saw a different child from the hospital in the same place. So, I took a risk and sent an email to the Family Center at Mott Children’s Hospital explaining what I saw. I sent a professional video of one of my performances, a resume and a description of my gifts. I asked them to let me know if I could somehow be of use. The next day, someone from the Family Center called me to set up a meeting with their Music Therapy Team to drum up some ideas.  

Fast forward to today...

I’m now the founder of Music at Mott, an outreach program at Mott Children’s Hospital that brings music to patients and their families on a weekly basis. I bring in a group of Musical Theatre students nearly every Friday to sing Disney music for and with patients, their siblings and their parents. Every week, I watch despondent or hurting children suddenly light up from the humor, joy and encouragement of Disney Music. What I’ve witnessed at Mott Children’s Hospital nothing short of magical. I remember one day last year when I left the hospital after a particularly moving interaction with a patient. I called my parents and said, “Even if I’m the star on a Broadway stage one day, I will never do any greater work than what I did today”. In this project, I document my experiences at Mott and explore how such joy, resilience and celebration can thrive in a place where there is also so much hurt, uncertainty and loss.  Thanks for joining me.