Introduction

Hello! My name is Maria Harless (Lawson). I got married over two years ago and it still blows my mind all the places you have got to go to change your name. As you can tell I still haven’t made it to West Virginia State University to update my name. Ooopes my bad. Maybe before I graduate I will finally get it fixed. Truth is I didn’t update my license until this past June because going to the DMV is an eight hour event and you need a butt load of documentation. I am from Charleston, West Virginia and have lived here my whole 26 years on this earth. When my husband and I got married I moved to a wonderful little place that no one has heard of called Holly Grove near the Fayette County/ Kanawha County boarder. This is NOTHING up there but it is pretty peaceful and quite. The best part is no unexpected visitors from parents. Yay for that!

I have recently switched from a general science secondary education major to an elementary education major. I know it is a drastic change but I official found my calling this summer when I worked for AmeriCorps Energy Express program. It was a literacy/nutrition/writing program to elementary school children

in rural areas of the state.  I fell in love with working with little kids and just hope I am doing the right thing. From this course I am hoping to gain a better understanding of the importance of music in elementary school and the benefits that can come from music being taught at a young age.

I myself love music any kind and all kinds. I am a percussionist so naturally I love loud instruments. I was in band all through middle school and high school. In marching season I was the lead snare drum player and my last year I switched it up and became a marching bass player! I attempted to play the saxophone and that lasted one hot minutes and that was it. I am not good with wind instruments or any types of horns but bring me a marimba or timpani and I can come up with a good beat. I love to sing. Let me clarify that. I love to sing in the shower and my car but not in front of anyone because I can not carry a tune at all. My concerns about this course are this recorder business and the panicky feeling of having to sing in front of anyone. I have heard from other students who took this music class that they had to play the recorder and sing in front of the class. Those are two things I am not going to be very good at but I will try my hardest!

I am very passionate about animals. I love them! I have two fur babies named Maxwell and Abigail. Max is a six year old all white boxer and Abigail is a two year old brindle boxer. They are my world. The other thing I am very passionate about is traveling. I love to travel. On June 09, 2011 I went to New Zealand with a program called International Student Volunteers or ISV for short. 

This is me in Fiji at Island Bounty Resort. I will never forget these eleven people I had the pleasure of meeting through ISV.

I spent six weeks in New Zealand planting trees, and doing conservation work. I then spent two weeks traveling the north island and the south island. At the end of that trip with ISV I spent 6 days in Fiji. It was amazing. I have been to Mexico, Canada, and China. I love learning about new cultures and traveling. It fascinates me.