"There is no place like Saint Mary’s and I am thankful for it every single day."
For the Love of Music
Alumna Laura Miller '08 says this photo "captures my
hilarious passion for teaching."
Graduate Laura Miller '08 is using her musical talents to brighten the minds of young students. Because of her many experiences with the music department at Saint Mary’s she says, “I am able to awe my students with stories of travels and performances that some of them can only dream of.”
As a student Miller was a member of the prestigious Women’s Choir, which allowed her to fulfill those dreams for herself. She attended and performed in various concerts, connected with other musical students, and participated in choir tours around the country, including a trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Miller was inspired to pursue elementary music education. She says that music department and Saint Mary’s professors in general expect “hard work and honesty from each of their students, from the first day of classes all the way through graduation,” but says the efforts are worth it.
“The members of the music department came to be a second family to me, nurturing me through everything from my first theory exam to my senior comprehensive and student teaching, as well as personal or family issues that are [inevitable] in life.”
Miller now teaches for three Penn-Harris-Madison Schools in Indiana—Horizon, Elm Road, and Moran elementary schools. She introduces singing, dancing, rhythm, and basic instruments to Kindergarteners through fifth graders, giving them an opportunity to understand and explore the different aspects of performing arts.
Miller is also the assistant director of Main Stage Inc., a non-profit organization located in Mishawaka. Main Stage Inc. is a community program that provides instruction and performance opportunities to children in the hopes of inspiring creativity and interest in the performing arts.
Miller’s work is nothing short of another dream come true. “I am incredibly lucky that every morning I wake up excited to go to work, to inspire hundreds of young students to love music as much as I always have.”
—Sarah Sheppard '11