Hannah Riddell: Music, Class of 2022
What motivated you to enroll at NAU?
I was interested in enrolling at NAU only because it was out of the heat I grew up in (Phoenix, AZ) but wasn’t too far from home. For this reason, I started preparing for NAU’s School of Music audition. When I visited NAU to complete my audition, I was able to meet the faculty and some of the students I would spend the next 4 years with. It was that moment that I decided to attend NAU: the beautiful campus and close community feel that I experienced in addition to the instant connection that I felt to my lesson teachers made the choice an easy one.
Why and how did you select your final major and minor at NAU?
I chose to be a Music BA because as I learned more about the field of Music, I realized my interests laid more with the study of Music History and Theory rather than the teaching of Music. This major also allowed my to explore my other fields of interest- Japanese and Psychology (my two minors). My senior year, I was able to dedicate a great amount of my time to studying the interaction between Japanese and Western music cultures both academically through my undergraduate research and practically through a recital of repertoire composed by Japanese composers.
In what ways did your NAU coursework prepare you for your career?
As an Academic Advisor, I am able to help students find a way to gear their education towards their interests as I did and help navigate the flexible world of careers based in Humanities. The collaboration that takes place as a musician has helped me build connections with my students and other campus departments to better support student interests and educational endeavors. The task of juggling 6-8 classes a semester and keeping track of my daily practice has helped me to maintain an organized work environment and keep track of multiple complex student cases simultaneously. Becoming an advocate for my own education and searching for opportunities has helped me to teach students how to do the same. Learning how to be both a leader and a member of the group has taught me understand when a student is better served to have me lead or follow.
Did you participate in any experiential learning opportunities, like a study abroad or an internship? If so, how did these contribute to your overall NAU experience?
Due to COVID, experiential opportunities were severely limited compared to what is available to current students. While I did not complete an internship or study abroad, I did take part in an Ins=dependent Study. This independent study was an hour-long recital that was comprised of Music written by Japanese composers in both the Japanese Music Tradition and the Western Music Tradition. For this course, I researched and sourced the music myself as well prepared the repertoire with my lesson teacher and piano accompanist as guides. This greatly added to my college experience because it helped me gain more of an understanding of the Academic Research I would like to do in the future and was an invaluable experience I will treasure for the rest of my life.
What campus activities did you participate in while you were a student?
I was the president of 2 clubs as a student: United Sound, an organization that meets weekly to teach adults with special needs a musical instrument (3 years), and Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional Music fraternity (3.5 years).
What part of your NAU experience do you value most highly today, and what could NAU have done better to prepare you for the future?
I most value the connections I built with the NAU and Flagstaff community as well as the tireless support I received from my mentors at NAU. They helped me not only earn my degree, but feel prepared to move on to the next stage of my life. Since I attended NAU in the midst of COVID, most of my regrets or misgivings about my undergraduate experience are related to this. I regret not being able to study abroad or form connections I missed out on while attending class over ZOOM, but that was hardly avoidable when taking the state of the world into consideration. I am very happy with my experience at NAU (enough that I chose to stay and help current and future NAU students).
