Leeann Hackett '11

At Elizabethtown, I’ve come to realize that service is an everyday opportunity.

As a member of the orchestra and string quartet, Leeann Hackett ’11 dazzled audiences with her proficiency on the violin. She also shared her talent with eight young students, elementary through high school, eager to become as skilled on the instrument as she is.

But Leeann doesn’t aspire to stage or classroom. Rather it’s where artistry and health care intersect that she envisions her career. “Music therapy is a good match for me because it involves using music to change people’s lives,” she explains. “In my classes, I’m learning how to musically set the stage to help my clients improve motor and cognitive skills. And, at Elizabethtown, I’ve come to realize that service is an everyday opportunity. In my career, I can always find ways to help people.”

Serving her clients, though, is not the only thing about which Leeann is passionate. As a future professional, she also believes that it’s important to contribute to the advancement of her discipline.

During her time at E-town, she held leadership positions in two student professional organizations, serving as president of Alpha Mu, Elizabethtown’s music therapy student group, and as parliamentarian of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the American Music Therapy Association for Students (MARAMTAS). In these roles, Leeann supported the planning and execution of hours of service and advocacy. From her vantage point, she believes Alpha Mu is one of the premier student organizations of its kind in the nation. “Elizabethtown students are some of the most prepared and active,” she says, noting that the group has been recognized by MARAMTAS for its volunteer work every year for the past six years.

The summer before her senior year at Elizabethtown, she participated summer work experience at the Perkins School for the Blind, in Boston, Mass.; this became the inspiration for her honors-in-the-discipline project on music therapy techniques for use with children with visual impairments.