Professional Development Day
February 13 2026 | University of Toronto
Facilitated Conversation: Music, Wellness, & Pathways
This panel was an opportunity to hear current student voices on the topic of music, well-being, and the diverse career paths involving music. The panelists (shown below) shared their own experiences as musicians and students in diverse fields.
Moderator - Varsha Patel
Assistant Dean, Student Success and Career Support
Varsha Patel is an academic leader with over 20 years of experience in post-secondary education, versed in student success, learning and development, and inclusive support systems. With a professional background spanning teaching, learning and development, social care, and community development, she brings a holistic understanding of the diverse needs of today’s learners. Varsha provides strategic oversight for the Academic Advising & Career Centre and AccessAbility Services, driving initiatives that promote academic achievement, career readiness, and equitable access. She is a passionate advocate for student development and a designer of programs that foster both academic excellence and personal growth. Varsha holds an Honours Degree in Community Management, a Master’s degree in Adult Education and Community Development, and is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Social Justice Education, further deepening her commitment to equity and transformative education.
Major: Music and Mental Health Studies
Paolo Cabral is an undergraduate student, doing a double major in Mental Health studies and in music. He loves to engage in many music whenever possible – either directly through extracurricular programming (e.g., steel pan) or indirectly (e.g., listening into jazz jams). Additionally, he serves as one of the executives of Music 303, and the president of a composition club called Soundwaves. His goal is to partake and encourage others to continue their pathway of lifelong music-making, regardless of where everyone is on their academic journeys.
Major: Psychology and Music
Aysha is an undergraduate student passionate about social psychology, music in society and music education. As a Scarborough-born girl, she is proud to represent the diversity of Scarborough here at UTSC but also challenge the barriers to higher education and musical opportunities to those like herself. She is an executive for UTSC Music 303 and a student representative to ABR-BIAC.
Recent Grad, major: Neuroscience and Health Studies – Policy
Kate Marshall is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto Scarborough with a double major in Health Studies and Neuroscience, and currently serves as Senior Coordinator at SoundLife Scarborough. Raised in Scarborough, Kate was able to access music through the TDSB public music education system; an experience that has led to lifelong impact. Today, Kate values how her education and experiences in music have shaped her understanding of the role of music in relation to healthy and happy communities.
Major: Public Policy and Music
Isaac Yan is a musician that continued his passion for music from high school into University. Now as a second-year student majoring in music at the University of Toronto Scarborough, he serves as the President of Music 303, which is the student group representing the music program on campus, providing extracurricular music-making, research, performance, and social opportunities to music students and music lovers alike on campus. Beyond that, he is also the current Music Director for UTSC Drama Society and Vice-President Administration to the Arts, Culture, Media Departmental Student Association, the organization representing the wider department of Arts at which the Music Program is situated within.
Sessions
The Music Pathway Project
The Music Pathways Project (TMPP) is a researched informed initiative based at the University Of Toronto Scarborough. This initiative is meant to respond to the disconnect between student perspectives on music careers and the realities of the rapidly evolving music industry. Through classroom experiences and student inquires, TMPP revealed that students, families and even educators often lack access to accurate information about viable music- related career pathways and resources which connect directly to the Ontario Ministry of education curriculum documents.
Music and Health
What is the connection between music and well-being? And do we practically apply these connections in our work? These questions were explored in the Music and Health workshop. We looked at the link between music and well-being, the curriculum connections, and discuss how we might use these intersections in our classrooms.
This event is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
