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“Music therapy is important to me, but it is just one part of my life. “I’m the type of person who likes to make small steps every day, and do the things I enjoy,” Niki said. She says she has already received some job offers, and looks forward to beginning her career, while also making sure to enjoy all aspects of her life. She’s weighing her options and leaning toward returning to her home nation to pursue opportunities as a certified music therapist. Niki is on track to complete all her degree and fieldwork requirements in May 2019. That and my job have really helped release some of my financial stress, which has been very important for me.” “I ended up getting them both, and I think I could never have gotten scholarships without her help. “Erica Wagner at the Career Resource Center helped proofread my applications,” she said. She has been working at the International Student Programs as a full-time GA since 2016, and also successfully applied for two academic scholarships.

Niki has also found opportunities on the SUNY New Paltz campus. I face different challenges every day and I’m getting real practice in the field.” I primarily work with children with autism and adults with special needs. “Now, I’m doing my internship Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy. “I did my fieldwork in a school and my practicum in a nursing home,” Niki said. In 2018, with assistance from the music therapy faculty, Niki secured an internship at Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at New York University in Manhattan.

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The graduate program in music therapy at SUNY New Paltz is constructed around a series of clinical and fieldwork experiences, allowing students to apply theory in a variety of practical settings.Īs Niki progressed through the program, she made connections at agencies in the nearby cities of Albany, Poughkeepsie and Kingston. “That first semester of studying ESL not only gave me a chance to practice and improve, it also gave me a time of transition, when I could participate in clubs like International Student Union, and experience the culture of the United States and the culture of this campus.” “The first semester I took mostly ESL classes – I had taken English at home for many years and my speaking was pretty good, but these classes were very helpful for taking tests,” Niki said. The College works with international students to design first semester experiences that ease the transition and equip them with the language and expression skills they will need to succeed academically and socially. “I remember arriving at around 5 p.m., and it was already evening, and very cold.”ĭespite the differences, Niki quickly warmed up to life in New Paltz.

“New Paltz is very different to where I’m from,” she said. Niki, who is accustomed to the warmer climate in southern China, says the temperature difference is one of the first things she noticed when stepped off the bus in New Paltz in January 2016. New Paltz is about 90-120 minutes from Manhattan by bus, and the town’s bus depot is within walking distance of campus.

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She says her time at New Paltz has been full of both professional and personal growth, as she’s taken advantage of educational, employment and service opportunities as a valued member of the College’s international student community.Ī vast majority of New Paltz’s international students come to the College via one of the major New York City airports.

Niki, who plays piano and guitar, is now on the cusp of earning a Master of Science degree from SUNY New Paltz’s #1 ranked music therapy program. I also like that New Paltz is close to Manhattan, and there are a lot of really good music therapy facilities there.” “I got offers from universities in Australia and New Zealand, but I decided to come to New Paltz because the professors have high reputations around the world. “I began planning to study abroad because there are only a few universities that provide music therapy programs in China,” she said. Jue “Niki” Zhang ’19g (Music Therapy) knew that her passion for music therapy would likely lead her to leave her hometown in Luzhou, China, but it wasn’t until she started researching university graduate programs that she began considering New York as an option.

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