My last hurrah

So it has been a little over a week since my final GU Melody Spring Concert.  I guess it still hasn't hit me that my experience with GU Melody is over.  It still doesn't feel like I'm graduating soon--there seems to be a lot of things I have to do before I'm really done at college.  And really, the Spring Concert was my first "last" at Georgetown.

But what I have thought about is how much I will miss the students and our GU Melody Family.  Volunteering with GU Melody has been probably the most profound thing that I have ever done with my life, because it has truly shaped me as a person.  I had done service prior to GU Melody, but never had I interacted with students in such a way that I truly got to know them as people and watch them grow over my four years of volunteering.  I have seen them sad and happy,
succeeding in school, learning how to read and write in cursive, growing taller each year, and
seeing younger generations of the same families come through GU Melody as well.  Two of my
former students have been so inspired by their GU Melody experience to begin taking piano lessons.  I cannot express how happy I am that I have brought music into those girls' lives.  

Also, I have never before encountered such a wonderful group of friends as my GU Melody family.  Each one of our volunteers is such a kind, unique, and caring individual whom I feel so fortunate to have as a friend.  I truly feel as though the best people I have ever met at Georgetown have been my Melody Family.  I have learned so much from all of you and we have shared so many funny memories and jokes.  You are all such wonderful people and I know that each of you will help change the world to become a better place by just you being in it.  You will all hold a place in my heart forever.  

I know that I am leaving GU Melody in the best hands.  Andrew and Matt already are beginning to recruit new freshmen by speaking at the GAAP weekends.  We've gotten a huge funding request approved for next year to buy new instruments.  So things just keep getting better!

The YMCA will be moving to a new building temporarily for the next few years while the old building undergoes renovations.  So it really is like the "end of an era" for us at the Anthony Bowen YMCA.  

But when I come visit, I will certainly have lots to look forward to :-)

Love,
Clare
President Emeritus