The jump on my resume from a master’s in music to a juris doctor reads like a giant question mark.

Now in my third and final year of law school, I have lost count of how many times I have given my “elevator pitch” about changing career tracks from harp to law. Typically I talk about how, from a young age, I was interested in becoming a lawyer, but that I also loved the harp and wanted to complete my master’s before I stopped studying music. Then the conversation turns to how studying music prepared me for being a lawyer, fostering traits like self-discipline and grace under pressure. 

The jump on my resume from a master’s in music to a juris doctor reads like a giant question mark. While I hate to admit it, and saying this may mean that I have officially sold out, the narrative of harpist-turned-lawyer makes me a memorable job candidate. Generally, I think it’s a story that people are curious to hear (other than my classmates, who have heard it far too many times). I’ve worked hard to smooth it out and make it make sense—probably as much for myself as for everyone else. The truth is, though, my reasons for changing lanes, my feelings about music, and my identity in the wake of the change are confusing. I’m still trying to make sense of it.

I started playing harp at age 5 after seeing a harp in a music store and pestering my mom incessantly until she agreed to let me take lessons. I was really serious about it, even as a kid, and I think I thought of myself as a “harpist” pretty much immediately. I grew up in a big family (I am the fourth of five kids), and playing the harp helped me feel unique. I really identified with it. By about age 12, my goal was to study harp in college, even though I didn’t know what I wanted out of a career. Honestly, on some level I probably assumed that I would stay home with kids and teach harp lessons on the side. I grew up in Utah in a pretty traditional Mormon home, and being a stay-at-home mom was just the norm for women in the community at that time. I think that is starting to change, but I didn’t meet a female attorney until I was in my twenties! 

I majored in harp performance at Brigham Young University with Nicole Brady, which is one of the few things in my life that I really believe was meant to be. She became an incredibly important mentor for me. Throughout undergrad I was conflicted about whether to get a master’s in music or go on to law school after graduation. When it came time to make a decision, I just wasn’t ready to stop studying music. Dr. Brady and I discussed the decision a lot, and she once said something to the effect of, “You know, life is long…maybe you can do both.” That was a paradigm shift for me as a 22 year old—at that age, it can be hard to have that long-view perspective. I decided to pursue a master’s, and started at New York University with Bridget Kibbey in 2018. Moving from Utah to New York was a seismic shift, and in a way, that was the catalyst for my eventual change in career path. My master’s was an inspiring but also painful growing period. I questioned nearly everything in my life during that time, including what I was doing in music. I had a lot of self-doubt about “making it,” but when I thought about what it would feel like to “make it,” I still wasn’t excited about a career in music. I realized that I loved being a harp student, but hated performing and wasn’t stimulated enough by teaching to do it full-time. 

I had continued to think about law school during my time at NYU, and eventually I decided to go for it. I bought an LSAT prep course and prepared for law school applications concurrently with my master’s recital. My husband Derek was incredibly supportive. I don’t know a lot of people who would sign on for their spouse to make a 180-degree career change that would result in more student debt, while still in their first graduate program. 

While I am looking for ways to become more engaged with music outside of my apartment as I finish law school, I still and will probably always love practicing and playing for my own enjoyment. I don’t get to it as consistently as I would like, and I get down sometimes when things don’t feel as easy as they used to, but playing Bach for a few minutes at lunchtime never fails to improve my day. For one thing, it is a relief to have a break from thinking in words—music is completely distracting and my mind goes into a relaxed state that is otherwise unreachable. Playing a piece of music helps to process things in a similar way as a long walk or meditation. Maybe the practice of playing a chord progression that resolves pleasantly in a cadence subconsciously helps to make problems or difficult emotions feel more manageable. 

In the process of navigating my shift away from the instrument, I have not turned my harp into firewood yet. But for the first time since I was 5 years old, I’m not taking lessons, practicing consistently, or performing. It is a monumental shift in how I spend my time and how I think about my identity. Since making the switch to law, I have discovered a surprising number of other harpists who pursued different careers after studying harp in college. My curiosity about their choices led to the article “Change of Direction” on page 36. Read on to find out more about the harpists I talked with, about their choices that led to career changes away from the harp, and how their music education set them up for success in their new careers. •