The performing arts are, and have always been, some of the most hands-on skills out there, often requiring physical contact between instructors and students, students together, and with shared equipment, often in large groups with even larger audiences. Music students share pianos and breathe into instruments, sing into open air. Sometimes we share mallets, and we definitely aren’t hauling around personal marimbas. In a dance classroom, two dancers practice a lift while their teacher spots them. Somewhere on stage, actors are playing an improvisation game where two students hold hands. In a studio, a professor presses on the back of a student, applying pressure to encourage a deeper breath. Suddenly,…

It is incredible to think that I have finished my first year of music school, all during a global pandemic. It feels like just yesterday I was moving into my dorm room, holding on to my mother’s arms and hesitant to start life on my own, almost ten hours away from my hometown. Now look at me! One year done, and I’m feeling sentimental. I will only be a college freshman once. I learned so many things about myself this past year. For instance, I learned that I really don’t like dill, and unfortunately, the dining hall puts that stuff on everything. Second, cleaning out the lint trap is essential.…