The 2017 Music for All Summer Symposium kicked off on Saturday with the Leadership Weekend Experience! I knew this year was going to be special when within ten minutes of walking into the Field Sports building for registration I heard my name being called out across the room. I looked up to see members of the 2017 Rose Parade BOA Honor Band smiling and waving at me from across the room.

In that moment I remembered why I love doing what I do.

It’s hard to believe that this weekend kicks off my 7th Music for All Summer Symposium. Since I started working at Music for All in August of 2010, I have been making a pilgrimage to Muncie, Indiana every June. The weeks leading up to me leaving for camp are always some of the busiest weeks of my year. but there’s something magical that happens every time I arrive on Ball State University’s campus. The students, the faculty, and most definitely the SWAGs reignite my drive and passion for serving this organization that provides positively life-changing experiences to over 450,000 music students, their families, and their teachers annually.

For me, Camp is an absolute blast. I have one of the best jobs in the world because I get to lead a team who shares stories about the INCREDIBLE things happening at the Music for All Summer Symposium. I’ve already had the chance to get to know SO MANY amazing students and swags through interviews and it’s only day one! I can’t wait to see what else happens this week.

Through blogs, photography, videos, and social media posts, we are keeping everyone back home up to date on what is happening here at Ball State. I’ll make sure to keep you updated on what happened the previous day at camp by compiling the best of our coverage in our camp newsletter, the Daily Buzz. While you might not see each division represented every day (our camp is growing with nine different student divisions, and multiple tracks within our Directors’ Academy!) we will highlight every division throughout the course of the week.

If this first edition of the 2017 Daily Buzz is any indicator… I think this just might be the BEST Music for All Summer Symposium yet!

(If you found this blog through social media, our camp website, etc and haven’t subscribed to the Daily Buzz yet, you can receive the daily camp newsletter in your inbox by signing up here: https://camp2.info.musicforall.org/2017camp/).