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Attending the World Congress of Music Therapy in Krems/Vienna, Austria was an enriching and fulfilling experience. I enjoyed meeting and networking with students and professionals from around the world, exploring Krems and Vienna, and attending unique sessions that presented music therapy from a different cultural and/or philosophical point of view than my own.I was inspired by every session that I attended, especially Music Therapy and Neurosciences: Clinical Applications for Children, presented by C. Zamani (Argentina), Creative Music Therapy with Premature Infants, presented by F. Haslbeck (Zurich/CH), and The Assessment of the MATADOC presented by W. Magee (US). Each of these sessions represents a different population and area of the world, and serves to remind me that quality, effective music therapy research and practice is taking place on a global scale.I was grateful to have the chance to reconnect with music therapists and music therapy students that I had met during previous trips. I was reunited with several of my professors from the Universidad del Salvador in Argentina, where I studied for a semester, and students and professionals from Poland that I was introduced to during a conference in their country as part of an exchange program between our two universities.I was lucky enough to have dinner one night with several student delegates and scholarship winners, and we discussed the various cultural differences between our respective countries. We laughed, we expressed shock, and we reveled in our differences. I have made connections with future music therapists from all corners of the globe who will soon be my colleagues. Brought together as students, we represent the future of the profession of music therapy. Who knows? Maybe someday we will be working together to plan the next World Congress of Music Therapy.Talia GirtonStudent at University of Louisville, USA2014 WCMT Student Scholarship Recipient
