“Oh, you play the flute in the Penn Band! How is that? I would imagine it’s a lot of fun.” I heard some variation of this statement in just about every job interview I had my senior year.  I am a Mechanical Design Engineer at an Aerospace company on Long Island, NY; a job that has absolutely nothing to do with music or flute-playing. However, it’s no surprise that I was asked this in my engineering interviews.  Music, as is the case for arts in general, is a cross-major, cross-career discussion point. To an interviewer, it reveals an applicant who is well-rounded and interested in more than his or her exact field of study.  I am grateful that I was able to continue pursuing the arts at Penn, regardless of my Engineering major.  Music truly is a combination of creativity and structure, a balance that is vital is any job setting.  Through being involved in PAC, I gained communication and leadership skills that are directly applicable to working in a corporate environment. Playing in bands and taking music classes helped me understand the importance of details in the scope of a large project, whether that be a song, performance, or an engineering design.  Most importantly, the wonderful, quirky, smart, sometimes insane, passionate friends I made through the arts at.

Penn showed me what it means to put 100% into any task.  While I may not be in an arts-related career, the skills I gained through involvement in the arts are used in my work every day.