Over a nebulous 6 weeks this summer I worked with the Association of British Choral Directors, conceiving of, planning, and chairing workshops giving practical skills to choral leaders for disability inclusion and accessibility.
The main outcome from this experience has been resilience. From contacting abcd in the first place, to finally getting a workshop completed just under a week ago, we often struggled with conflicting work schedules and emails not being replied to or picked up. To be honest, this was incredibly frustrating at times. I was working hard to put things in place, raring to get going on a project I cared deeply about, but it sometimes felt like hitting a brick wall with the charity in terms of getting responses, and moving on with the practical side of things.
As we worked online, mostly over email with the occasional video call, I sometimes felt quite isolated. I say all this not to scare future students, but to share the reality of the LiA - even though I was at "home" in surroundings I knew, the fear and pressure of working in an unfamiliar charity, with new organisational structures, was incredibly challenging. Advocating for myself through disability accomodations (such as working online, rather than going to a whole new place as well as learning a new structure and working with people I'd never met) is a skill I have honed through the LiA process, and one which will serve me throughout my life - learning that I do deserve accommodation and support, and am no less for needing it, has been a life-affirming experience despite the struggle it took to get there.
My work was mostly on planning session content for the webinars, and creating resources to be available afterwards to support directors in putting in place practical steps in their choir. As we said often during planning, "a bad webinar is one where you leave feeling guilty about not having done anything, and overwhelmed by the amount of things you've done wrong; a good webinar is compassionate and practical". The series of webinars has only just begun, with the first taking place on the 25th September, but we have created resources and plans for a whole series, which can now continue after my LiA time has concluded. It feels amazing to know that this work will continue both inside the charity (with my continued support in chairing workshops - another new skill I never thought I would be brave enough to learn!), and also in individual choirs, making a difference at a local level across the UK and beyond.
During the workshops I also got to work directly with industry professionals - other disabled musicians, and passionate advocates for inclusion in music whom I have looked up to for a long time. Learning to get over the "star-struck" feeling of wanting them to like me, and think I have intelligent and useful ideas (radical honesty here - I am still a little embarrassed to admit that!), to get to be able to challenge and debate with them on the best way to present information, the different models of disability, and the needs of different groups has been very valuable. I feel more able than ever to stand my ground when I deeply care about a point, while also listening compassionately to all sides. I feel that the experience of a whole new working environment and conflict (however small and civil) within this space has been so valuable in learning communication skills which will serve me for a lifetime.
So yes. An LiA experience perhaps quite different to others discussed on this forum. Yet one which has challenged me, and allowed me to demonstrate and gain skills in so many unexpected and valuable areas. I am so grateful to the Laidlaw foundation, and the Laidlaw team at Durham in particular, for their support in making this experience possible, and in troubleshooting when I was panicking, unsure, or even just lonely with meetings and friends having similar experiences. This experience will stick with me forever, and the friends and connections I have made this summer are invaluable as I progress to the final year of my undergraduate degree, and on (hopefully) to postgraduate study!