Always keep in mind your PURPOSE, and why you are motivated to continuing your cause. Too often, we lose sight of the very reason of doing the things we choose to do. It’s really easy to be caught up in the weeds, logistics, and daily problems of running an organization. However, if there’s a vision that you have for whatever you are pursuing, the vision will pull you forward. For me, realizing that there are thousands of seniors and Alzheimer’s patients still out there without experiencing the joy of music or sharing a friendship with young adults like us drives me to do better and expand my cause. If I can step up tomorrow and touch the hearts of more people, I will gladly continue doing what I am passionate about for the rest of my life.
As part of my series about young people who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Grace Sun.
Grace Sun is a student at Wellesley College from San Diego, California who is passionate about using music and the performing arts to provide joy and healing for seniors, Alzheimer’s Disease/dementia patients, and those living with chronic diseases. She wants to provide a sense of belonging and a community of diverse, music-loving students to those that may not have the resources to experience it with others. Sun was named one of PEOPLE’s Girls Changing the World, a Gloria Barron Prize Winner, a TIME for Kids, and Yahoo News feature for the establishment of her musical service nonprofit, Melodies for Remedies.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I was born and raised in San Diego, California. My mom signed me up for my first piano lesson at age 4, and ever since, the performing arts have been integrated within my life as both a hobby and a means of communicating with others. Growing up, I also dabbled in the violin, choir, ballet, jazz, and tap dancing. However, as a classically trained pianist that competed internationally, I always thought that performing arts had to be very formal. Eventually, when I came upon YouTube videos of people playing covers and singing karaoke covers of songs in public and for those living in assisted living facilities, I realized that music could be a ground for mutual understanding and provider of joy. This led me to think about ways I could use my love for piano for the greater good.
Is there a particular book or organization that made a significant impact on you growing up? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
A book that I read early in middle school that has always stuck with me is “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi. This book gives a wonderful autobiography of Dr. Kalanithi and his life and career revolving around cancer, both as a doctor operating on cancer patients and as a lung cancer patient himself. I appreciated how gently this book approached heavy topics of mortality and grief, bridging the technicalities of disease and the emotional journey of living with terminal illness. In his own story of becoming a statistic — one of thousands to die from stage IV cancer — Dr. Kalanithi essentially brought my sixth-grade self to see life in a new light and to appreciate the life I could experience a little more fully. This book was one of the first exposures I had to medicine, and one of the main reasons why I now want to pursue a career in medicine. I admire Dr. Kalanithi’s journey of deciding on a path of neurosurgery, and his resilience throughout his last days drive me to discover new therapies and care for those afflicted with chronic illnesses.
How do you define “Making A Difference”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I think “Making a Difference” is something, big or small, that any person can do to help other human beings. I love how every person may have a different idea of what making a difference can be, depending on their passions, interests, and surrounding environment. From something as minor as taking the mail for a neighbor, to something as large as developing a new therapeutic for thousands of sick patients, making a difference recognizes the impact of an individual’s goodwill, and the kindness they have in their hearts to step up for others.
Ok super. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. You are currently leading an organization that aims to make a social impact. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?
Melodies for Remedies is a 501©3 nonprofit organization that seeks to spread joy, connection, and healing through music and the performing arts. We are entirely student-run, and we hope to use the artistic talents of young people worldwide to help those living in senior homes, assisted living centers, Alzheimer’s/dementia care centers, and hospitals who might not have the resources to access this. With over 140+ members across 5 different countries, our members give free monthly concerts, music therapy sessions, and spread our cause through community events. Most recently, we have been involved in music therapy as an unconventional, non-invasive form of medicine for neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alzheimer’s disease has no cure at the moment. But, as an aspiring physician-researcher, I know that merely finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease will not be enough — the rapidly multiplying population of dementia-diseased elderly in the world, frankly, cannot wait years or decades for a cure that is sure to work. I realize the dire need of Alzheimer’s patients for treatment, therapy, and financial support in the United States, even if these patients aren’t people I personally know. So, through Melodies for Remedies, I am calling on the help of hundreds of student-musicians around the world to help those living for dementia through our mutual love of music and the performing arts.
One of MFR’s biggest goals is to help current Alzheimer’s patients, one on one. For me, when I interact with these people who’ve forgotten almost everything but música and lengua, Alzheimer’s changes from a neuron-strangling brain disease to an intangible force that slowly takes away the definition of being human. From the smallest kids asking what “the disease of forgetting” is at our science fair booth, to the oldest senior sitting at our concert, I will keep giving music and joy as long as I can. I want to be that trilingual friend helping others battle Alzheimer’s Disease with the community, so no one gets lost in translation and in fading memory.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
Originally, I started Melodies for Remedies as a 9th grader in March of 2020. A crucial experience that I had that really kick-started running this organization was the annual service event that my high school would host for every grade. My high school was very community service-oriented, and every year before the pandemic, they would bring different opportunities for each grade so students could experience how they could bring their own passions and talents into civic engagement. The service event that I attended was a talent show at a local senior home, Casa de Manana. which was right across the street from my high school. Although it was an impromptu talent show and none of us had prepared performances specifically for this show, all of us 9th-graders to participated in several different types of performing arts (musical theater, singing, choir, symphony, band, etc.). So, we took the songs and performances that we knew already from our repertoire and brought it out for the seniors. When I saw that the seniors were happy and clapped enthusiastically for each one of us even though we made, my outlook on music and the performing arts really changed. As a classically trained pianist, I never saw music as a communicative art. However, this one experience flipped my perspective and led me to think of ways that I could continue using my passion for music to better others.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions, but never manifest them. We don’t always get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?
When I first flipped through the glossy pages of the Alzheimer’s Disease special issue in Time Magazine 2018, I couldn’t help but think about how far away I was from this disease. I had never heard of Alzheimer’s, and I really didn’t know any people suffering from dementia. It wasn’t until I entered Glenner Alzheimer’s Center and had an hour-long conversation in Spanish with a dementia-ridden abuela after my first Melodies for Remedies music therapy session, that I realized dementia was here the whole time. A simple Google search led me to realize that there were 690,000+ Californians living with Alzheimer’s with a lack of treatment and therapy. These elderly people in our own community were surviving without resources to maintain their quality of life, especially living alone. Glenner Alzheimer’s Center was my “wake-up call” in realizing the dire need of underrepresented and minority Alzheimer’s patients for treatment, therapy, and financial support in the United States, even if these patients weren’t people I personally knew. Through Melodies for Remedies, I am calling on the support of fellow student musicians to help raise awareness and funds for the 6.7 million Alzheimer’s patients in the US. Through benefit concerts, fundraisers, and one-on-one music therapy sessions, we hope to help bring therapy and comfort to as many of these individuals as possible in our own way.
Many young people don’t know the steps to take to start a new organization. But you did. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?
One thing that I never quite appreciated when I first started Melodies for Remedies is how much personal support and resources a fledgling organization needs to grow. Going to a community-service oriented high school, I was able to take advantage of the resources that my professors, friends, teachers, and mentors had to offer. I reached out to senior homes around the area and told my music-loving friends about this project I was passionate about and asked them for their help to kickstart my club. From there, I started giving small-scale concerts once a month on Zoom, and eventually transitioned to in-person concerts after COVID. I really had to initiate communication between our audience and performers, establish relationships with strangers, and create a community of diverse student-musicians.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
When I first started Melodies for Remedies, I confined myself to the comfortable formality of classical music, relishing in the loud roar of applause rising up from the crowd after my concertos. However, after trying out this same tactic with an audience afflicted with dementia, I was met with the silence of the seniors in their wheelchairs, locked inside their minds. When I decided to pivot to a more interactive, audience-oriented approach to music, I was finally able to find the key to their locked minds, and allow them to return to their old, lively selves for the moment being.
Needless to say, my early efforts were not successful at all; it was hard to break through the physical and mental barriers between us and the twenty dementia patients in their rooms, triple-masked in their wheelchairs, each separated by Plexiglass cubicles. When we finished our classical Bach fugues and embellished Beethoven sonatas, our virtual concert halls were silent. There was no sound of clapping, cheering, or singalongs that we were so accustomed to with regular seniors. The Alzheimer’s patients just stared blankly through us, and as I tried to sound lively and happy to comfort my fellow performers, the pit in my stomach grew deeper. It wasn’t until I entered Glenner Alzheimer’s Center a year later, a mock 1950s movie town care center, that I realized that I needed to change the way I looked at Alzheimer’s Disease. Ordinary people like me can create ways for Alzheimer’s patients to relive the happiest memories of their youth. As I walked through the faux streets lined with neon diners and signed portraits of Elvis Presley, I learned about how unique, music reminiscence therapy could create a new way of life and treatment — besides medicine — for the patients of this devastating disease.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of the funniest mistakes we made while I first started Melodies for Remedies was our second concert. Because we sent out the invite a little too late, my performers and I showed up to an empty Zoom room as a combination of technical issues and miscommunications led to no audience members showing up. However, we turned this into a learning experience, and we decided to turn it into an impromptu jam session instead! I learned that many things need way more time to plan than you would think. All of our concerts and events are planned more than month in advance now.
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
I have several mentors and cheerleaders that helped me succeed, mainly my parents and the music teachers in my high school, Dr. Christine Micu and Mr. Robert Anderson. They gave me unwavering support during the early concerts that I struggled to get performers to attend, or unexpected cancellations. They gave me great advice on how to grow my organization, as well as shared with me their wisdom on how they saw music creating communities within their classes and on-campus music groups. Other mentors I had were the senior home managers and activity directors, especially Mr. Uriel Perez from Glenner Alzheimer’s Center who helped me greatly in learning about Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, and the concept of music therapy. He is one of the main reasons why Melodies for Remedies is an advocate for Alzheimer’s Disease research and therapy today.
Without saying specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
I stood there in my performance dress in front of the piano, wordless, and terrified, as a white-haired grandma tightly gripped my hand from her wheelchair and rapidly babbled to me in broken Spanish. Overwhelmed by seniors in walkers and wheelchairs beelining straight for me, I barely had time to snatch my Sinatra music book after I finished my first in-person Melodies for Remedies music therapy session at the Glenner Alzheimer’s Center. Any spectator could watch this little fiasco and laugh, questioning how possibly a confident student-pianist trained in classical performance could be scared of this little old, 4-foot-10 lady. Yes, my Spanish insecurities were one thing, but I was mortified because I was not ready to interact with Alzheimer’s patients whatsoever. Gulping my rising fear, I listened to this grandma, Abuela María, trying to tell me how much she loved my Sinatra performance in Español. Catching onto a couple of words dropped from her chatter, I stuttered back in Spanish: I love Frank Sinatra too! What are your favorite songs?” She widened her eyes as her face lit up in a big grin, and she asked, “You know Spanish?! Increíble!” From then on, all fear dissolved. Our hour-long conversation afterward became a lot livelier as we got to know each other, albeit racked with wrong conjugations and bad pronunciations. Abuela María was a revered traveling music teacher, and although she couldn’t recall her daughter’s name, she passionately said my jazzy piano rendition matched Sinatra’s sultry voice.
I never knew a new friendship would be kindled that day, nor that I could hold a coherent conversation with someone with Alzheimer’s disease. I’ve dedicated my community services to giving music to seniors to spread joy, and my outlook on working with Alzheimer’s Disease patients has changed. Being able to perform music for patients, holding their hand as they painstakingly try to string garbled vowels and consonants into stories about their rich lives, taught me more about Alzheimer’s disease — and what I could do to help — than any research internship or magazine article ever could.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
- Be a voice and advocate for the senior citizens living alone.
- Donate/fundraise/volunteer to advance dementia research!
- Support student-run causes helping change the world!
Fantastic. Here is the main question of the interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each).
5 things I wish someone told me when I first started:
- Anything is possible, literally. Although it sounds cliché, 9th-grade me never thought that Melodies for Remedies would make it this far (into my college career!). Many opportunities, events, and people all contributed to make this organization a successful one. There might physical and logistical challenges that you would’ve never imagined coming up along the way, but it’s important to remember that these are just tiny bumps on your way up to success.
- It takes a village to raise a (brain)child. Running a nonprofit organization is no easy task. Melodies for Remedies has over 150 members across 4 countries, with a student leadership board, ambassadors, and various senior homes, Alzheimer’s care centers, news stations, research centers, and schools supporting and collaborating with us. With such an expansive network providing MFR support in their own unique ways, MFR can flourish. Ultimately, it’s about knowing that you’ll need a lot of help growing your “brainchild,” and being unafraid to reach out to those closest to you to begin the network!
- The most fun you’ll have are the experiences along the way. For me, nothing can truly emulate the rush of dopamine I get when I hear the loud chorus of seniors singing over my piano accompaniment during music therapy sessions. Being able to enjoy what you do is just as important as being driven to grow your cause. Every time I’m able to tell a child about the power of music during our booths during science fairs, or explain our cause to a curious senior, I am grounded in the purpose of my organization which brings me happiness.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Many times, my overachiever mindset clouds my good decision-making in MFR. I love taking on a ton of roles myself and overloading my plate because I enjoy the sense of control. However, that is rarely a good way of creating success. The key to running an organization/project/idea is to have people around you who want to support you and are equally passionate about your cause as you are. These people — teachers, coaches, parents, friends, mentors — will gladly be there for you any time you are struggling. So, don’t be afraid to speak up about your struggles and ask for help. Trust that there will be people that recognize your time of need and push you forward during those periods!
- Always keep in mind your PURPOSE, and why you are motivated to continuing your cause. Too often, we lose sight of the very reason of doing the things we choose to do. It’s really easy to be caught up in the weeds, logistics, and daily problems of running an organization. However, if there’s a vision that you have for whatever you are pursuing, the vision will pull you forward. For me, realizing that there are thousands of seniors and Alzheimer’s patients still out there without experiencing the joy of music or sharing a friendship with young adults like us drives me to do better and expand my cause. If I can step up tomorrow and touch the hearts of more people, I will gladly continue doing what I am passionate about for the rest of my life.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
You should try to make an impact on our environment in society because your actions — albeit small — really go a long way. For me I don’t think I really realized how much of a tangible, personal difference I could make on people when I first started Melodies for Remedies. I was simply performing the songs that I loved to people who wanted to listen. I didn’t think that taking my passion for music and interacting with other people could create opportunities for me to help those who really needed support and happiness that stemmed from the performing arts. It might seem like changing the world is a nearly impossible thing for a young person. But the definition of “changing the world” isn’t necessarily reserved for actions as big as moving mountains. Changing the world can be as small as taking the time to talk to your elderly neighbor donating your extra notebooks for a kid in need. These actions CAN be done by you and other young people. And eventually before you know it, these actions will snowball into something much more significant than ever imagined.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Dr. Rochelle Walensky. I am so inspired by her work and her commitment to bringing equitable healthcare to all people in the United States as the head of the CDC. Not only is Dr. Walensky accomplished academically (M.D. and M.P.H), but she has also demonstrated incredible expertise in infectious diseases/public health when spearheading the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Her incredible empathy for others and ability to make decisions for this nation has been crucial in guiding the U.S. through one of the most challenging public health crises in recent history. Dr. Walensky is one of my role models because she brings medicine in an approachable manner into the scope of society — how the convergences of epidemiology, scientific research, healthcare, and economics plays a role in each and every one of our lives. As a prospective physician, I hope to be like her in the way she tirelessly advocates for those in need!
How can our readers follow you online?
Website: www.melodiesforremedies.org/
Instagram: @melodies.for.remedies
Melodies for Remedies Youtube Channel
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/melodiesforremedies
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Young Change Makers: Why and How Grace Sun of Melodies for Remedies Is Helping to Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.