Meet music education major Katy Meaux

Written byCaleb Cooper, communications major

鈥淚鈥檓 learning a lot. I already feel like I鈥檓 more comfortable in the classroom, and I鈥檓 finding my teaching style. I鈥檓 very happy that I get full-year 亚洲自慰视频-teaching experience 鈥 you get to know the 亚洲自慰视频s better, and now they know me, they trust me. They understand that I鈥檓 also learning, and they want to help me run the class as best I can.鈥

Katy Meaux
Major
Music Education
Hometown
Kaplan, LA

Where I'm From

I was born in Kaplan and I have always wanted to teach.

Where I Am

I鈥檓 a music education major with a bunch of extracurriculars and teaching experiences under my belt.

Where I'm Going

I鈥檓 going to teach children and eventually go to grad school for music history or theory.

Katy Meaux is using her inherent teaching skills and passion for music to pursue a degree in music education.

鈥淢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,鈥 she said.  鈥淥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.鈥

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.

鈥淚鈥檓 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.鈥

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.

鈥淔reshman year is very general education. For music majors, you鈥檙e taking music theory and piano, and in education you鈥檙e taking classes like, what is teaching, what are the responsibilities,鈥 she said. 鈥淥nce you get higher into sophomore, junior and senior year, you get more of the honing in on diversity and classroom management 鈥 the very specific things you need to run a classroom well.鈥

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 鈥 a skill she didn鈥檛 possess before coming to college.

鈥業 want to have all the knowledge I can鈥

She gained many of those essential skills through , a music fraternity for women.

Katy is the vice president of membership and the music chair 鈥 an important position in a fraternity based around music. Her position in the fraternity has also allowed her to apply her gift for teaching.

鈥淚n our meetings, we have songs we have to sing, so I get to teach those,鈥 she said. 鈥淚n our songbook, we have songs from different Sigma Alpha Iota members. This semester we鈥檙e going to sing at a nursing home and then we鈥檙e organizing an American Composers Concert celebrating pieces by American composers.鈥

Along with her leadership roles within her fraternity, Katy is a 亚洲自慰视频 worker in the Office of 亚洲自慰视频 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.

鈥淗aving scholarships makes me feel appreciated, which is really nice," she said. "It鈥檚 nice to go to all the banquets because it鈥檚 like, hey, I鈥檓 doing something and the 亚洲自慰视频 sees that. I work for myself, I want to be a good 亚洲自慰视频, I want to have all the knowledge I can, but it鈥檚 also nice to know that I鈥檓 doing well enough to get a scholarship for it.鈥

Music & Education

Another motivation for Katy is the perk of getting to earn her degree within the 亚洲自慰视频鈥檚 School of Music and Performing Arts.

鈥淏eing a music major, you have a very tight-knit feeling. There aren鈥檛 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,鈥 she said.

鈥淚t really does feel like it鈥檚 your second home. At any given point, you have friends there, practicing at 2 a.m. and just hanging out.鈥

Katy uses her music and education classes to help her understand music theory and teach younger 亚洲自慰视频s at the Music Academy of Acadiana.

鈥淚 love teaching young 亚洲自慰视频s. Teaching the young ones is so much fun because everything is so new and their amazement with the littlest things is fantastic,鈥 she said.

鈥淲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鈥檛 make sense. It鈥檚 a great way to trial and error things and figure out who I am in the classroom in a smaller setting before you鈥檙e in a classroom of 20-something 7-year olds."

Naturally, 亚洲自慰视频 teaching has gone well for Meaux, as she has already begun to find her voice as a teacher.

鈥淚鈥檓 very happy that I get 鈥 you get to know the 亚洲自慰视频s better, and now they know me, they trust me. They understand that I鈥檓 also learning, and they want to help me run the class as best I can.鈥

鈥溠侵拮晕渴悠 teaching is going much better than I expected. I was much more comfortable with elementary 鈥 I teach younger 亚洲自慰视频s already 鈥 but high school is going well. I鈥檓 learning a lot. I already feel like I鈥檓 more comfortable in the classroom. I didn鈥檛 want to lose my personality in teaching, I wanted to be myself in the classroom, and I鈥檝e learned how to navigate that and find my teaching style.鈥

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