Let Singing Serve the City

“Rise above all of that and ask, “How can I make the world a better place?” For me, that’s the only job we have: to make the world a better place. How you do it doesn’t matter—whether you’re teaching, singing, or picking up garbage—everything has its own value.”

– Mari Schay

Mari and I met during my summer job as a peer mentor for incoming freshman students at Portland State University. Mari was the teacher for our class, preparing these fresh-out-of-high-school students to pursue creative studies at PSU. It was a really interesting role, especially because I was not only a mentor for these students, but also lived with them in the dorms and hosted various engaging activities to help familiarize them with the campus and make them comfortable. These activities included, but were not limited to, doing henna tattoos in the dorm, playing hide-and-seek in the science building late at night, and guiding walks around downtown Portland. I showed them important tips, like how to get into the art museum for free and where to find art supplies without burning a hole in their pockets. Together with Mari, we created a fun start to their school experience—something I personally wish I could have had when I came to this school exactly one year ago.

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Simeen Anjum: How did you end up here at Portland State, in Lincoln Hall, in this room?

Mari: I grew up with a musician mom and started playing classical guitar at 8. I later switched to percussion and drums. In college at Willamette University, I initially wanted to major in Russian but the teacher scared me, so then I decided to major in English, but I was in music classes, and I just kind of got more and more into playing and practicing. By the time I was in my second year of college, I was working really hard and making a lot of improvement and kind of getting a lot of recognition for the work that I was doing.

At first, I didn’t want to be a teacher, but I realized that getting a teaching license would let me stay in school and keep practicing. I went to the Cincinnati Conservatory as a graduate teaching assistant, and while I didn’t enjoy the experience overall, I discovered that teaching was the part I liked the most. That got me thinking about a career in education.

After moving to Texas, I taught middle school and then elementary school for 23 years. When a position opened at Portland State University, a former student teacher encouraged me to apply, and I ended up getting the job. So, this is my fourth year in this building, in this office, and in this role.

Simeen: You’ve spent a lot of time teaching despite not initially planning to be a teacher. What aspects of the profession drew you in and made you enjoy it?

Mari: Yeah, it definitely wasn’t my plan. From my second year of college through grad school, I practiced six to eight hours a day and rehearsed with bands for another four or five hours. I eventually hit a plateau in my progress.

I realized I didn’t want to play in an orchestra, which is what I thought I was training for. I prefer playing a variety of music, especially modern and avant-garde pieces. The idea of repeating the same works year after year just didn’t engage me, and I found myself drifting away from that world.

I started teaching classes at the conservatory, and I enjoyed it. But it wasn’t until my second full-time teaching job that I truly found my passion, especially working with special education students—kids with Down syndrome, severe autism, and other disabilities. Their pure and joyful approach to life inspired me and made me realize that music could be a wonderful way to connect with kids while teaching them.

A few years later, I became really interested in curriculum development and how to help people change what they know and what they can do. I focused on the steps and sequencing involved in that process. I became invested in helping others learn, just as I had been with my own music. Now, what drives me is finding ways to help people see their potential and feel empowered in their own learning journey.

Simeen: I think that’s really special! What do you aim to give to the students you teach?

Mari: I think it’s about agency. Everyone is a learner, and even if you don’t identify as a scholar or academic, I believe everyone is curious. Sometimes, the education system can make learning feel less enjoyable.

If we provide people with experiences that help them see their curiosity and encourage them to explore it on their own, they don’t necessarily need a teacher; they just need their own inspiration. In that way, there are really no limits to what they can accomplish. And by “accomplish,” I don’t mean just tangible things like papers or projects, but rather a meaningful way of living.

So yeah, I think the thing to give people is a belief that they can learn, but also that they have to learn.

Simeen: It makes me think about what going to college really means and what value it holds.

Mari: For many of our students, especially first-generation students, college doesn’t feel like the next natural step. There’s often a lot of self-doubt and fear about whether they’re ready for this journey.

College is broadly seen as a way to get a better job, and while that’s true, it should also be a path to discovering your passion. Ideally, your job should nourish you and prevent burnout because it’s something you love doing. I hope that for every college student, something sparks their curiosity—that feeling where you just have to pursue what excites you.

I feel lucky to have had a fulfilling life, and I want to help others find that too.

In the arts, it’s often easier to encourage this exploration because you’re already challenging societal norms that push you toward more conventional paths.

Simeen: You mentioned creating an inspiring environment for students coming to college. Do you think there are specific actions we, as students or the PSU community, can take to make this a better environment for everyone?

I feel like we often cap people by saying, “You’re good at this” or “You’re not good at this.” Sometimes, there’s an attitude that if you’re not good enough, you don’t belong here. But belonging is essential—it’s what makes you want to be part of a community and feel that you have a place in the world. Anything that doesn’t support that sense of belonging shouldn’t be part of our environment. We’re not Harvard or an elite conservatory.

There’s some confusion about what our university’s mission should be, especially behind closed doors—in the music department and, I’m sure, in the arts and other fields as well. It often feels like the message is, “You’re not good enough to even start.” I don’t understand that because you can’t know what someone is capable of until you give them the opportunity to try.

When I first got here, a teacher—who has since retired—said that if you come here and aren’t ready for it, you don’t belong. He compared it to the math department, where they don’t teach you how to add and subtract; you’re expected to know that when you arrive. Similarly, students in music are expected to already know how to read music and perform certain skills. I see it differently: we should welcome anyone who wants to try.

It’s challenging in music because there are performance levels that you’re expected to achieve right away, but we should give everyone the opportunity to learn something new. I wish we would embrace the idea of PSU’s motto “Let Knowledge Serve the City” more fully.

Simeen:  Is there anything specific you intentionally incorporate into your teaching practice?

Mari: I am intentional about helping my students find a personal connection. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to foster those connections, encouraging students to engage in conversations with one another in class. This way, they can see each other as experts and relate to the concepts we’re discussing.

Simeen,  you seem really capable of finding connections. I really admire how you know who’s who and who to approach for different resources. It’s impressive how you’ve come from the outside and figured out where to go for various things. You seem to truly belong here; you’ve found your sense of belonging.

Simeen: Thank you! Yes, when I first arrived, I didn’t know anything. I’m really grateful that my cohort and colleagues went out of their way to help me find that sense of belonging. They consistently encourage me and create space for me—not just cheerleading, but also providing critical feedback on my work and engaging in meaningful discussions. We’re learning together.

Mari: You’re really open, too. You’re willing to accept new ideas, and it feels like it goes both ways. You have to be open for the experience to be meaningful.

Simeen: Yeah, I’ve always believed that there’s more out there because I grew up with many boundaries and limitations surrounding my identity. Even though I didn’t know Portland existed, I believed that there was more to the world than what I was told. There are ways of being beyond those limits.

And even today, I feel like it’s an ongoing process; we’re on a journey to build a better world, no matter where life takes us.

Speaking of connections, there’s something I wanted to bring up about the act of singing together. Since you have a music background, I thought you might have some insights on this. During my university years in New Delhi, we had a strong culture of singing songs together. After long, challenging days of protesting, we would gather in a circle and sing songs historically associated with marginalized groups in India. Sharing those songs brought me so much joy and empowerment, especially because it was my first time experiencing this. I was also unaware of the stories and perspectives of working-class and marginalized people in my own country, and it opened my eyes to a whole new world.

Mari: Yeah, there’s really a lot of research around what singing together does. It even brings your heartbeats in alignment, like everybody’s heart rate slows down and matches and it releases endorphins, which are essentially the chemical equivalent of being stoned. It relaxes you, it calms you. It comes from the vibrations that people experience together, that they’re all essentially vibrating together.

So there’s great research about singing and the power of it. One of the most powerful singing experiences I’ve had, I don’t know if we can do it after COVID, but you take like a hundred people and you cram them in as close together as they’ll get and you just say, ready, set, sing.

Everybody just goes whatever pitch they want, it doesn’t matter. They’re just singing any sound and it creates this vibration that is just the weirdest, most cool feeling. then if you let it go, people will find the same pitch. Everybody will get to the same note and nobody has to say anything, people just naturally bring it into resonance. How do we make one big sound out of however many we have? So yeah, I think that this idea is really, really cool and could make a big difference.

Simeen: I feel like these songs are like stories that have the power to humanize others. We often perceive different communities as “the other,” but through my project, Songs Against Dark Times Like These, which invites people to come together and sing historical songs of resistance from various cultures, languages, and social movements, I am exploring how we can shift that perspective. I believe singing together has the potential to help us connect with people in a deeper way and feel differently about each other’s experiences.

Mari: Yeah, for sure. And especially if you have people from different countries and cultures sharing their music. There’s a lot of power in that and see that it kind of doesn’t matter where you’re from.

We all have struggles and we all need to protest. I mean, maybe there are cultures that don’t need protest, but I think things need to evolve in any culture and I think it’s the young people that tend to push that change and protest songs are one powerful way to do it.

Simeen: Have you ever sung songs like that? What’s your top song?

Mari: Well, I love spirituals. It’s a bit strange because I’m not religious at all, but I really enjoy singing them and hearing them. I used to teach a whole unit with my students about protest songs and how spirituals were used as protest songs during the abolition of slavery, even while slavery was still in place.

It was a big study I did with my kids every year. There’s this fascinating concept related to quilts—do you know what a quilt is? It’s a blanket made from sewn fabric, and different quilt patterns each have their own meanings. Some quilts were made as samplers, featuring various patterns, and the leaders within the enslaved community would teach these songs using the different patterns.

They would hang a quilt over a railing or fence, displaying a specific pattern while singing that corresponding song. It served as a way to signal to others that something was going to happen. For example, there’s a song called “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel,” and there’s a quilt pattern shaped like the spokes of a wheel. That pattern would signal that someone was coming that night to help them escape.

I think it’s really powerful how one form of art was combined with another to help people find freedom. It’s an inspiring story. What’s your top song?

Simeen: In middle school, we sang a Hindustani version of “We Shall Overcome.” Singing that song still makes me feel so nostalgic.

Mari: “We Shall Overcome” is such a powerful song on its own, and it’s amazing how you learned it as a kid and it’s been translated into a different language. It still holds that same power. We sang that song every year in my school.

I also think a song doesn’t have to technically be a protest song to be used in protests. In the 1960s in the U.S., many songs brought people together and served as forms of protest, even if they weren’t explicitly labeled as protest songs.

It’s really interesting because it depends on what you choose to draw inspiration from and where you find your values.

Simeen: I think it’s because I’m coming from a place that has very strict boundaries about who you are and what you can and cannot do based on your name. I’m really grateful that God put me outside of that structure I was originally meant to function in, so I want to use my freedom in the best ways I can think of.

Mari: That’s a perspective that most people don’t have. We often take everything for granted. I’ve never had to consider that perspective. Being a woman in America is different from being a Muslim in a country that doesn’t welcome you, and that presents another big barrier and challenge. But you seem to rise above all of that and ask, “How can I make the world a better place?” For me, that’s the only job we have: to make the world a better place. How you do it doesn’t matter—whether you’re teaching, singing, or picking up garbage—everything has its own value.

Simeen: The last thing I want to ask you is from the values you intentionally incorporate into your work, what is the one value you’d like to share with me as I continue with this project?

Mari: Community. I think of it more as connection—bringing people together.

I truly believe we’re all stronger when everyone has a role to play and when we’re all together. When we help people feel connected, it drives empowerment and allows them to succeed in whatever they want to achieve. So, yes, I think that’s something you should keep close to your heart.

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Mari Schay (she/they) is a music educator who has dedicated over 23 years to teaching in elementary and middle schools. She currently inspires future music teachers at Portland State University. With a background in percussion performance, Mari loves fostering creativity and community through music. She has authored several books for music educators and frequently leads professional development sessions. Mari is working on making music education accessible and engaging for all students.

Simeen Anjum (she/her) is a social practice artist based in Portland, Oregon. Her work explores the creation of safe spaces and community in a world increasingly shaped by conflict and competition. Through collaborative projects, she seeks to foster connection and understanding in environments that encourage openness and inclusion.

Currently in her second year of the MFA program at Portland State University, Simeen is also a teaching assistant in printmaking, where she supports students in their artistic development while continuing to evolve her own practice.