Skyler Cumbia's two greatest passions: Music and helping others
Skyler Cumbia holds a music therapy session with children
I have loved music since before I can remember. In fact, my mom often jokes that I came into this world humming a tune.
Growing up, my parents had classical music playing all the time – in the morning to wake us up, in the evening to wind us down, in the car as we ran errands. I started singing in a church choir when I was 3 years old and never stopped. When I was 6, I began piano lessons, and I’ve picked up many other instruments since then.
It’s safe to say that every season or milestone in my life has been marked by music.
The only thing that has matched my passion for music over the years is my strong desire to make a difference in people’s lives. This is why I’ve chosen to pursue a career in music therapy. It so perfectly combines my two greatest passions: music and helping others.
The moment I discovered music therapy is a perhaps a bit different than many of my classmates. While volunteering in Haiti after high school, I lived and worked in an orphanage with 28 children. A band from Virginia visited and brought with them many donated instruments, something that these children would never have access to otherwise.
Helping the children discover the instruments was an amazing experience, but perhaps even greater was teaching English to a few physical therapists and seeing the impact they made on the lives of their clients.
It inspired me to research what I could do that would help people in a similar way. After a quick Google search, I discovered the existence of music therapy and how it could so perfectly meld my love for music and desire to help others.
A couple years later, and thanks to donors, I’m well on my way to realizing my dream of using music therapy to help others.
Scholarship support has been crucial to my ability to excel at Radford University while not having to worry about how I will pay for my tuition. Without the generosity of what I like to call “everyday heroes,” so many students like myself would not be able to chase their dreams and pursue a college degree.
As students, we can sometimes forget that these scholarships do not just “materialize.” Rather, they come from giving and intentional people who unselfishly invest in the next generation, like my scholarship benefactors Greg and Fran Rooker, who I had the honor of meeting and thanking in person at the “Partners in Excellence” luncheon this past spring.
As I mentioned earlier, every season or milestone in my life has been marked by music. I am forever grateful to donors like Greg and Fran for helping a simple Google search blossom into a career in which music and helping others remains at the center.