Student Spotlight: Delaney Cadman, Clarinet

On a hot August day, members of the MMB lay sprawled on the turf, chugging water and occupying every inch of shade the tower was able to give. For Delaney Cadman, this was familiar. Marching in eighty and ninety-degree heat was just like back home in California. It was the snow and twelve-degree windchill that were new. Little did she know that later that season she would be back in California, and this time, her family would get to watch her march in person.

"I'd only ever done band in California," Cadman said. "There were doubts about whether I would fit in, or make friends. I was a really shy kid growing up. I was extremely introverted. I did not think that I was a leader. I just knew that leaders seemed really charismatic, really extroverted, and enthusiastic and that was not me. I had been in band for a while and I decided I really wanted to push myself to go for leadership. I had made a lot of friends there and felt comfortable. I became the drum major my junior and senior year (of high school). I had a phenomenal experience and wanted to continue with music and leadership into college."

In her first in-person year of college, Cadman lived in a house with other members of the clarinet section, one of whom was a rank leader. 

"I knew I wanted to contribute positively to my section in any way I could," Cadman said. "I went for rank leader my junior year, attended the student leader retreat, and got the position. One of our biggest triumphs that season was that every single person in our section made a game, everyone got to march pregame at some point. I loved that I got to play some part in helping my section have that opportunity. There were so many people in that class who had never done marching band before. I don't credit myself for that, but guiding them to get to that place has been super rewarding."

Cadman also served the band as co-chair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee.

"I'm a mixed-race student," Cadman said. "Growing up there was a lot of Hispanic influence from my mom's side of the family, and so I struggled to fit in sometimes. I saw the work going on with the DEI committee here, and I really wanted to contribute to that and foster an environment where people feel included because it is such a large program and it can be easy to feel overlooked. I want to make sure everyone's voice is heard and that everyone is supported by our staff.  I respect how receptive the directors are. We really can talk candidly with them, we can have those conversations. We feel like our committee members can be honest with the directors. That was one of our goals."

This season in particular, the DEI committee was challenged with fostering inclusivity and community when the band no longer had a designated practice field. 

"The directors asked us to help boost morale and make sure people's spirits were not diminished by this, and that people on the reserve field didn't feel separated," Cadman said. "We wanted to set up an opportunity for student leaders to go to the reserve field to help out there. We also want to see more representation from UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn students. We want to send students to give presentations to those students to talk about opportunities."

Cadman further pursued a desire to contribute to the music community through her involvement in the honorary band fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi (KKPsi), an organization dedicated to leadership and excellence in music. 

"KKPsi is a place for people that really want to volunteer in the band community and pursue leadership," Cadman said. "I came to this university not knowing anybody. I wanted to meet new people outside of my section. KKPsi had the best combination of people from across different sections. I knew I wanted to pursue leadership in KKPsi no matter what that looked like, so I became the chair of communications, media, and development and later became the service chair. Doing work for the organization and getting to be a big brother to Greta and Clara was such a positive experience."

Cadman decided to run for the Vice President of Membership (VPM), a position that is responsible for educating new members about the organization and leading them through the degree process. 

"I was the delegate for the Nu chapter at districts and I got seated next to the OSU delegate, the one chapter that is older than us in the region," Cadman said. "She was VPM of her chapter. She was super awesome. She offered to read my platform and I asked her about a bunch of new things I could implement. I love being able to get to know the new MCs (Membership Candidates) and teach them about brotherhood. We are taught that brotherhood is stronger than any other relationship because we are all bonded by this love of music. You run into any other brother from any other school and immediately share that love. When I went to district convention, I walked in not knowing anyone and walked out with a ton of new friends."

The eagerness Cadman feels to give back to her community is emulated within her career goals.

"I am interested in pediatrics," Cadman said. "I've been shadowing Dr. Schmidt during his rounds at Mott [Children's Hospital]. He works in internal medicine and primary care. I am able to see things happen in real-time and how residents do in a hospital setting, and I have been able to see the different pathways to becoming a pediatric doctor. I have also been able to directly see how Dr. Schmidt interacts with patients. He let me listen to a newborn's heartbeat and told me what he's looking for when he listens to it."

Dr. Schmidt also serves as one of the medical aids for the marching band throughout the season. 

In addition to her involvement at Mott, Cadman is involved in a Cardiovascular medical lab in a mitochondrial DNA study. 

"We are interested in seeing how kidneys work in really high and low salt diets over a long period of time," Cadman said. "We used patients in a volunteer group and we extracted data through urine and ran various tests for different departments within the lab. I also have done volunteer work at the cardiac procedure unit at Michigan Medicine. I was able to bring patients to pre-op and let families see their loved ones after an operation. It was a good experience learning to talk to patients' families. Surgery is a really serious thing and having those interpersonal skills is really important to being a physician."

Cadman graduated this past May with a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) with a minor in music in hopes of pursuing a career in medicine. Cadman plans on attending medical school after a gap year.