Owings encourages Bearcats to try new things as he begins music teaching career

After his four years at Northwest Missouri State University, Steven Owings is looking back on his love for music and the path it has provided him.

Owings, of Mexico, Missouri, graduated from Northwest this spring with a Bachelor of Music Education degree in vocal music education and voice. In the fall, he will start his career teaching music for pre-K through eighth grade at Northeast Randolph County R-4 School District in Cairo, Missouri.

Steven Owings performed with the Northwest Jazz Ensemble, among other music groups. (Northwest Missouri State University photos)

Playing with Northwest music ensembles also afforded Owings opportunities to perform in a variety of venues, including the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri.

Music has always been a big part of his life, and it showed through his involvement and coursework at Northwest. He developed connections early with Northwest music faculty while attending music camps on the campus as a middle school and high school student.

“I took more visits, and I just kind of fell in love with the campus and in love with all the faculty,” Owings said. “They were really welcoming and Northwest’s music program has been very strong for a long time, and I knew that that was kind of the route I wanted to go. It was just a good fit.”

With the help of a music scholarship at Northwest, he was involved in the University Chorale, Tower Choir, Madraliers and Jazz Ensemble. He had the opportunity to perform premieres of new works with the Jazz Ensemble and the Tower Choir. He also performed with Northwest music ensembles at Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, and the annual Missouri Music Educators Association conference.

Northwest’s profession-based learning approach and focus on placing students in practice settings during their first year on campus boosted his confidence and helped him grow as an educator.

“The coursework I was involved in from the time I stepped on campus definitely prepared me,” Owings said. “I was in a classroom the second semester of my freshman year, and it just built off from there and it really pushed me. I’ve learned a lot. I have no doubt I’ll be a successful teacher in the future – all because of the faculty at Northwest and the coursework that I was involved in.”

Owings also says his Northwest experience has grown his understanding of music as well as his understanding of others.

“It’s definitely made me more open-minded, listening to diverse perspectives that maybe I don’t agree with but being able to sit down and listen,” he said. “It’s exposed me to new ideas and I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of things that – whenever I was in high school from a small town – I never thought of.”

Owings acknowledges trying new things can be intimidating, but encourages Bearcats to not be overwhelmed and make the most of opportunities.

“You’ll look back and you’re going to be graduating, and you’re going to be like, ‘Wow, that flew by really fast,’” Owings said. “Once you look back on your collegiate years, yes, it’s a lot of work. Yes, it’s a lot of practicing and time and having to be vulnerable and grow as a person, but it will make you a much better human in the long run, and you’ll look back and be like, ‘Wow, that was really cool that I had the opportunity to do some of the things I did.’”