Interview by Laura Wise, APA Executive Board
Your Fellow AP in this newsletter is Andrea Worful, an Administrative Assistant at the Community Music School.
What is your job title?
Administrative Assistant II, but the work that I perform at the MSU Community Music School expands far beyond what my title might describe. CMS is the outreach arm of the MSU College of Music—we bring music education and music therapy services to people of all ages and abilities from the Greater Lansing and Metro Detroit communities. I am the budget and HR coordinator for both locations. I process payroll, hiring paperwork, pay the bills and am the Fiscal Officer for all our accounts… generally I mind the Ps and Qs of the money.
How long have you been at MSU?
Over 9 years. My first staff position on campus was as in the Department of Art, Art History & Design in a Clerical-Technical position. My undergraduate and graduate studies were in music so it was nice to learn more about the visual arts during the three years I worked there. I received great training and mentoring from my supervisor at AAHD and when the position at the Community Music School came open I saw the perfect opportunity to take what I had learned, expand my work and get back to my musical roots. It is the perfect fit!
What brought you to your job at MSU?
I came to MSU as a graduate student in what was then the Department of Music, now the College of Music. While I was working on a Masters degree in Music Theory, I fell in love with MSU and the greater Lansing community. East Lansing felt like a second home to me even though Michigan is my adopted state. I grew up in a college town in Kentucky and always loved the excitement created by the students each year. New students taking their first steps on the journey to finding their place in the world, graduating students stepping out into full adulthood… so much life and creativity surround the campus and it’s great to be a part of that. So I began looking for a job on campus. I started as a temp employee filling in while someone was on leave and I was very excited to accept a full-time, permanent position with AAHD as my temp assignment ended.
What do you love about working at MSU and CMS specifically?
MSU is a great place to work—you are offered the opportunities to explore new jobs or careers that best fit you and the university, all while maintaining the incredible benefits being an MSU employee affords! Working at CMS is also amazing since it brings together my passion for music and the critical thinking skills I love to exercise. CMS is such an asset to the communities we serve. Until I started working here, I didn’t fully understand the breadth of programming offered—‘all ages’ isn’t an understatement. In the past year, I helped a family register a three week old baby in one of the Early Childhood Music classes and later that semester, helped an eighty-five year old women register for piano lessons!
I think our summer camps are my favorite time of year though. When it’s time for the ‘RicStar’ Music Therapy camp each summer, the excitement is palpable. The community comes together for two, 3-day camps—one for youth and teens, and one for adults—for people with special needs to celebrate making music in whatever ways that they can. Volunteers from the community help campers with the days’ activities and siblings can come as well. It’s so amazing to see everyone in the building having fun creating and communicating through music. Some of the campers that attend regular sessions at CMS will stop by the office to show us when they wear their camp t-shirts during the year. It’s clear the camp experience is really meaningful and I find that being a part of that is amazing!
What do you like to do when you are not at work?
I spend time with my wonderful husband and two adorable young children as well as quilting and reading. I also sing and play recorder with the Renaissance Singers of Lansing and play bassoon with the Alma College Symphony Orchestra. I don’t think you stop wanting to create music once you’ve experienced the power it can have in your life and I get to live that every day… at work and at play!