Recent graduate Felixia Brooks finds harmony in music therapy

As a music major, Brooks merged her background in choir with an interest in mental health and is now using both to help others.

Back when Felixia Brooks was a high school student with her sights set on college, she needed to figure out what she wanted to study once she got there.

An active singer and performer from Norfolk, Virginia, she'd already cultivated a deep love for music - she credits taking choir as an elective with helping her become more outgoing - but she also possessed a keen interest in mental health.

"I was talking to my mom and I said, 'What if I could combine music and psychology?'" Brooks recently recalled. "My mom said, 'I think you're thinking about music therapy.' And… I didn't even know that was a thing."

An extended trip down an internet rabbit hole gave her a crash course on that subject, and she also learned about Radford University's accredited music therapy program. Brooks by chance spent a month at Radford attending the New River Valley Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, so she knew she liked the campus.

That's when all the pieces fell into place.

"This is the only school I applied to," she said of Radford, "and I got in."

As a college student, she found herself leading clinical music therapy sessions with young people, with the goal of enhancing their self-expression and self-advocacy, and Brooks - who'd once suffered from shyness herself - grew adept at helping others in much the same way.

"At first, they would not even… ask questions. They wouldn't speak up for themselves," Brook said. "As the music therapy sessions went on, you could see how they got a bit more open, and a bit more comfortable.

"Now all they do is ask questions, all they do is tell you how they're feeling," she added. "And I'm like, wow, this is really what I was looking for, and I'm really doing it."