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In her own words, Meghan Joliffe ’22 discusses how she learned to enjoy singing again after burnout.

After my undergrad, I was musically and artistically burnt out. Up until that point, I had never taken a break from music and had been studying very seriously for a long time. I was so bogged down with my own critical voice that there was no light in music-making anymore. It took me a while to get back to it and know that music is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Figuring out how to be critical of yourself in a way that pushes you forward—that process was really challenging. I needed to figure out why I was singing.

In the years after my undergrad, I worked a full-time job as an HR admin at a pharmaceutical company. I did a lot of community theater during that time, and I sang in some professional opera companies. I wanted to save money for grad school and also avoid the feelings of burnout again. At the end of undergrad, I felt that I no longer wanted to sing, so I spent a lot of time making music fun again. I sang with community choirs and local musical theater groups and chose to make music for myself. That was really important.

When I was doing auditions for grad school, SFCM was the place that gave me the same kind of energy as I got from the community-based experiences I had in my years off. The energy at SFCM—on top of liking the program, the teacher, and everything else—that intangible vibe was present is why I decided to come to the Conservatory.

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