Melissa`s Proposal 

For my service learning project I want to work with people from the music therapy  department here at the University of Kentucky. I would include those who are both working on their masters or in the equivalency program. I have some experience within a classroom setting as a student doing presentations. I would like to meet with those who participate to collaborate with me to discuss their experience working with those with disabilities and ideas as music therapists to be better at serving them. I would treat this as a focus group to see what others know and have learned since being part of the program about this population. 

This is relevant to this course because we are currently learning about working with people with disabilities and how best to serve them. I think it would be interesting and helpful to see what others who may be already working in the field and those who have not not yet entered the field know. This will benefit me personally by giving me some possible insight into my own biases I have against working with those with disabilities as a music therapist. This will help me professionally by giving me an understanding and insight on others` experience working with this population. 

I would like to ideally do this virtually, in an interview style. I think this would be the safest and most adaptable way of completing this project. In addition to conducting interviews/ focus groups with those that are masters students and equivalency students, I would consult some professionals in the area. Some people I might consult other than the students themselves are those that work in healthcare, the hospital, as music therapists. I might also consult my internship supervisor who I know has worked with students with disabilities. Lastly I would consult the music therapy professors and staff here at UK (Dr. Yinger, Dr. Reschke-Hernandez, Professor Robinson, TAs).