Michael Drvenkar didn’t need long to know the University of Dayton was the right fit. One campus visit was all it took.
He also arrived with something many students spend years searching for: a clear sense of what he wanted to study. Now heading into his second year, he is a music therapy major, a cantor for the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, a Q*mmunity leader and a Camp Blue counselor.
“At UD, it doesn’t feel like I need to hide,” Drvenkar said. “It feels like my voice actually matters.”
A Niche Path in Music Therapy
Drvenkar’s road to UD was shaped largely by his major. Music therapy is a highly specialized field, and when he was applying to colleges, only five schools in Ohio offered it. That number has since dropped to three. Growing up in Lakewood, Ohio, he wanted to stay in-state, so his options were limited from the start, but luckily, after his first campus visit, that didn’t feel like a constraint.
“On my first tour at UD, I just absolutely loved the campus, loved the feel,” Drvenkar said. “And after my audition to get into the music school, I was like, this is it. This is the place I want to be.”
For Drvenkar, choosing music therapy stems from a simple realization: “My passion for music comes from my love of others.”
Music therapists work in clinical settings, using music the same way an occupational therapist might use other tools to benefit a client’s health and well-being. Once he connected those dots, the idea of using music to actively improve others’ health and well-being felt like a natural fit for Drvenkar’s future.
Where the Classroom Meets the Field
One thing that surprised Drvenkar about the music therapy program at UD is how quickly students dive into their coursework. The bulk of the major is front-loaded into the first two years, meaning he already has been immersed in music, music therapy and psychology courses since day one. And he’s loved every minute of it.
“It’s just been an absolute dream getting to be with all of my music classmates, learning all of these things, and then getting to go to a music therapy class and learn how scales and all these different musical concepts can be applied in a way that benefits health,” he said. “When you actually get to learn exactly how it works with affecting other people in a health-based way, it’s just incredible.”
He’s found unexpected value even outside his core coursework. UD’s common academic program (CAP), the University’s general education curriculum, ended up being more relevant to his major than he anticipated.
“I was like, oh, I just have to get this CAP class done. And then I went into it and I’m like, I’m learning more that I could apply to my major than I ever would have thought,” he said.
He also credits music therapy professors Beth Schulz and Joy Willenbrink-Conte with helping him understand his strengths and weaknesses and guiding his growth as a student.
This past year, Drvenkar joined classmates at the Great Lakes Music Therapy Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan, an annual gathering for music therapy students and professionals to network, learn and share research.
The music therapy club on campus helps raise money so students can afford to attend the conference. Next year, the conference heads to St. Paul, Minnesota.
“We try to get as many of us there as possible to network with fellow music therapists, further our knowledge and present research,” he said. “It’s just been super cool.”
A New Role at Sunday Mass
Drvenkar began singing at the 8:30 p.m. Sunday Mass after friends who held undergraduate music minister positions invited him to join them last year. This coming fall, his role becomes official: Drvenkar has been hired as a cantor, one of three undergraduate music minister positions, and is now part of the UD Campus Ministry staff.
With that title comes the part he’s most excited about: the planning. As cantor, Drvenkar will help select the music for each Mass, diving into the readings, considering the spirituality of the season and choosing from a combined songbook of more than 1,500 songs.
“Instead of just showing up on Sunday and being like, ‘Okay, what are we doing this week, for this upcoming year?’ I get to be like, ‘Okay, this is what we’re doing, because it relates to the readings in this way and it helps move the congregation in this way,’” he said.
One of his favorite Mass songs is “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman,” a piece he describes as “a very beautiful devotional song to Mary” that he’s been singing since he was a kindergartner in his school’s choir. Now he gets to plan and lead that music at the university level.
Q*mmunity Leader and Camp Blue Counselor
Drvenkar’s involvement at UD goes beyond music. He is a Q*mmunity leader, part of a group of student peer educators who strive to cultivate a more welcoming campus environment for LGBTQ+ individuals at UD through intentional conversations, presentations, programs and events.
For Drvenkar, it connects directly to what he’s experienced at UD himself.
“It feels like UD is just such a pure safe haven,” he said.
That spirit of community also drew him to Camp Blue, UD’s early move-in program that brings incoming freshmen to campus a week before the school year begins to build friendships, develop leadership skills and explore the greater Dayton area. Drvenkar participated as a camper his freshman year and found it so meaningful that he applied to become a counselor. He credits the experience with setting the tone for everything that followed.
“Even before the school year started, it was: we want you as you are,” he said. “We want you as God made you to be, not who other people think you should be.”
The Legacy He Wants to Leave
For Drvenkar, the legacy he hopes to leave at UD is simple: a campus where every student knows the support and resources available to them, in the form of groups like Q*mmunity. He wants that awareness to extend beyond those who already are connected to it.
“There’s more than just you,” he said. “There’s also me, on a wider student body, university scale support. I want to leave knowing that the impact I had will give more students the opportunity to make an impact.”
Drvenkar is only starting his second year, but he’s already singing, leading and advocating with everything he has. Keep an eye out for him at the 8:30 p.m. Mass this fall.
And if you’re a current student still looking for your place in the Q*mmunity, know there are students like Drvenkar and groups like Q*mmunity leaders, Spectrum, FOLX and LGBTQ+ Ministry working to make sure you always have one.