Katy Meaux is using her inherent teaching skills and passion for music to pursue a degree in music education.
小蝌蚪APP淢y mom is a teacher. She would bring out all of her math toys, and me and my sister thought it was the coolest thing,小蝌蚪APP she said. 小蝌蚪APP淥nce I got to high school, I always felt like I saw things differently, especially in science and math, and I could explain it to my peers differently. I always kind of knew I wanted to be a teacher.小蝌蚪APP
Her passion for music became clear during her freshman year of high school when she joined choir, where she learned that singing was a natural talent of hers.
小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檓 blessed with that gift. I started making district and state honor choirs, and at the national level, and decided maybe this is something I can make a living off of.小蝌蚪APP
Learning from Experiences
To pursue her passion, she enrolled at UL Lafayette. As she continued through the music education program, her classes let her explore more of what she wanted to do.
小蝌蚪APP淔reshman year is very general education. For music majors, you小蝌蚪APP檙e taking music theory and piano, and in education you小蝌蚪APP檙e taking classes like, what is teaching, what are the responsibilities,小蝌蚪APP she said. 小蝌蚪APP淥nce you get higher into sophomore, junior and senior year, you get more of the honing in on diversity and classroom management 小蝌蚪APP the very specific things you need to run a classroom well.小蝌蚪APP
Taking these classes taught her these essential teaching skills as well as a variety of others, including time management, leadership skills, people skills, and even how to play the piano 小蝌蚪APP a skill she didn小蝌蚪APP檛 possess before coming to college.
小蝌蚪APP業 want to have all the knowledge I can小蝌蚪APP
She gained many of those essential skills through , a music fraternity for women.
Katy is the vice president of membership and the music chair 小蝌蚪APP an important position in a fraternity based around music. Her position in the fraternity has also allowed her to apply her gift for teaching.
小蝌蚪APP淚n our meetings, we have songs we have to sing, so I get to teach those,小蝌蚪APP she said. 小蝌蚪APP淚n our songbook, we have songs from different Sigma Alpha Iota members. This semester we小蝌蚪APP檙e going to sing at a nursing home and then we小蝌蚪APP檙e organizing an American Composers Concert celebrating pieces by American composers.小蝌蚪APP
Along with her leadership roles within her fraternity, Katy is a student worker in the Office of Student Financial Aid as well as the recipient of three different scholarships. Aside from helping her pay for school, they also help her feel rewarded and motivated.
小蝌蚪APP淗aving scholarships makes me feel appreciated, which is really nice," she said. "It小蝌蚪APP檚 nice to go to all the banquets because it小蝌蚪APP檚 like, hey, I小蝌蚪APP檓 doing something and the 小蝌蚪APP sees that. I work for myself, I want to be a good student, I want to have all the knowledge I can, but it小蝌蚪APP檚 also nice to know that I小蝌蚪APP檓 doing well enough to get a scholarship for it.小蝌蚪APP
Music & Education
Another motivation for Katy is the perk of getting to earn her degree within the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 School of Music and Performing Arts.
小蝌蚪APP淏eing a music major, you have a very tight-knit feeling. There aren小蝌蚪APP檛 as many music majors. We all have classes in Angelle (Hall), we all have a lot of the same things to do: practice, ensembles, and you stay together all day,小蝌蚪APP she said.
小蝌蚪APP淚t really does feel like it小蝌蚪APP檚 your second home. At any given point, you have friends there, practicing at 2 a.m. and just hanging out.小蝌蚪APP
Katy uses her music and education classes to help her understand music theory and teach younger students at the Music Academy of Acadiana.
小蝌蚪APP淚 love teaching young students. Teaching the young ones is so much fun because everything is so new and their amazement with the littlest things is fantastic,小蝌蚪APP she said.
小蝌蚪APP淲hen I was taking my method classes, I was able to go and try it out immediately on a one-on-one basis. My kids will tell me if something doesn小蝌蚪APP檛 make sense. It小蝌蚪APP檚 a great way to trial and error things and figure out who I am in the classroom in a smaller setting before you小蝌蚪APP檙e in a classroom of 20-something 7-year olds."
Naturally, student teaching has gone well for Meaux, as she has already begun to find her voice as a teacher.
小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檓 very happy that I get 小蝌蚪APP you get to know the students better, and now they know me, they trust me. They understand that I小蝌蚪APP檓 also learning, and they want to help me run the class as best I can.小蝌蚪APP
小蝌蚪APP淪tudent teaching is going much better than I expected. I was much more comfortable with elementary 小蝌蚪APP I teach younger students already 小蝌蚪APP but high school is going well. I小蝌蚪APP檓 learning a lot. I already feel like I小蝌蚪APP檓 more comfortable in the classroom. I didn小蝌蚪APP檛 want to lose my personality in teaching, I wanted to be myself in the classroom, and I小蝌蚪APP檝e learned how to navigate that and find my teaching style.小蝌蚪APP
