Students reflect on ‘the last first day’ of music school

The first day of school is an exciting time for students, teachers and families alike, but some students will hold bittersweet feelings as they march back into the classroom next week. For them, it will be the last first day before contemplating the daunting question that they will be asked ad nauseum: what’s next? 

Senior music students at the post-secondary level are contemplating that question as they return to the classroom this week with a mixture of emotions ranging from excitement at the prospect of starting their professional music-making to sadness at the loss of a supportive community around them to nerves about what lies ahead.  

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“I feel like those nerves from first year never really go away,” laughs Luz Thiele Meza, a graduating vocal performance major at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music who’s balancing excitement about final projects with sadness at final choir performances. 

For aspiring music educator Sarah Schellenberg, the last first day is a time to reflect on the first first day when she stepped foot inside the Desautels Faculty of Music. “I was so scared,” she recalls. “I didn’t know anyone, and I didn’t completely understand what I was doing yet. But I think now I have a bit more experience in that field and I know a lot more people, so that’s very helpful and has helped me a lot with my nerves going into my last first day.” 

Schellenberg’s experience also informs a piece of advice that she wishes she could share with her past self that she now shares with first-time university music students. “Not everything’s going to come all at once including friends, the music, repertoire, the studies,” she says, “so be patient, give yourself a little bit of grace on your learning.” 

Perspective gained over her years of study has shown Thiele Meza something about her learning that she hopes to take with her into advanced post-secondary studies. “I think the best thing I’ve learned in university is how much I can learn from my peers,” she says. “I think I went into it thinking very much like, ‘I’m learning from my professors.’ And then, especially now in the performance stream, getting to hear the people around me who are so talented and love the art so much, that on days when maybe my voice isn’t working or I just don’t feel great but I still have to get into the practice room, just hearing somebody else and listening to their joy has been very impactful.”