Music has always been a part of life for Tyrus Parnell ’25, and his summer 2024 internship was no exception. Working for the Helen L. Fox Gospel Music Center in a Community Building Internship (CBI) through the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) immersed Parnell in the field he loves and helped him prepare for life after college by redirecting his future path.
Growing up in a musical family, Parnell has sung for as long as he has talked and drummed since he was a toddler banging on his family’s pots and pans. In middle school band, he frustrated his parents by bringing home a new instrument every few weeks. “I just really like them all,” he said. By seventh grade, he was training his ear by teaching younger band students. In high school, he became an unofficial assistant to his choir teacher, helping run rehearsals.
“I’ve always been really integrated into the music aspect of my life, and teaching it came easily for me,” Parnell said. His plan coming to Kalamazoo College was to teach music of some sort at the high school or college level. His advisor, Chris Ludwa, suggested that a CBI with the Helen L. Fox Gospel Music Center would tie in perfectly with Parnell’s K-Plan and his quest to find his avenue within music.
The internship at Helen Fox offered Parnell the opportunity to both teach and work behind the scenes administratively. He was surprised to find that while he enjoyed the teaching, he truly thrived in the music center’s office.
“I really found a knack for administration and being in the weeds a little bit with trying to make sure that every kid that comes through any type of program is accounted for, they have what they need, and just doing the big reach to help as many as possible,” Parnell said. “I was helping with writing grants, planning schedules, learning the software that we use, and being an extra pair of eyes, extra pair of ears, helping to manage what we’re doing great, what wasn’t going so great.”
In the center’s summer program, Parnell taught piano to a class of students ranging in age from about 6 to 15.
“We did a little showcase at the end of it, which was really fun,” Parnell said. “As diverse in ages as my class was, they all had to start at the beginning. It was nice to see how at the end, they were helping one another, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, and leaning on each other to learn the pieces.”
Parnell also taught drumming through the center’s summer camp. Working with another drum instructor, they planned a routine with choreography around a Motown theme. The camp also included a trip to Detroit and a visit from a former member of a Motown singing group, the Velvelettes.
“It was nice to have that moment where it felt like our community stretched and was really kind of just all over,” Parnell said.
Through the CBI, Parnell developed and practiced skills that will serve him well in any future endeavors, including flexibility and adaptability (the center’s shared space in the Douglass Community Center sometimes necessitates last-minute changes in plans) as well as patience and understanding with different family dynamics and life experiences. In addition, he learned about himself, his own strengths and challenges, his preferences and skills.
“It’s been so much that I’ve taken away from the internship, and it’s given me a good look as to what nonprofit work entails,” Parnell said. “I really appreciated that.”
At K, Parnell has served in various roles in the music department and different ensembles, including as section leader for the College Singers and co-music director for the a capella group Premium Orange. He also serves as minister of music at his church, Sanctuary of Praise, and helps run a ministry-related podcast, Driven in Purpose. Parnell has been a President’s Student Ambassador since his second year at K. Heading into his senior year, the music and religion double major is exploring a new interest in digital music, writing an album, planning a live recording, and looking ahead to grad school and beyond.
“Where I want to go for grad school is the biggest unanswered question, because I know the work I want to do,” Parnell said. “I really have found a love for nonprofit, so I would like to stay in that realm. I want to go to graduate school for public administration and learn how to best serve nonprofits or even start my own.
“I think that music will always be a part of my life. In some way, some of the work I do will probably heavily rely on music, but it’s really finding your voice with the music. I’ve always wanted music to be the thing that opens a conversation. For me, music has been a way to communicate what I couldn’t with words. It’s the emotion behind music. There’s this subliminal message happening that I’m just playing and dialing into. I remember my grandmother telling me, whenever you are going through a block or going through a hardship or whatever, you let it out through your music. Let that be your outlet. That’s the relationship I have with music.”