Back when he was a student at Arrowhead Union High School in Hartland, Devin Grabowski was a drummer and enthusiastic member of the marching band.
He enjoyed it so much that he applied and was accepted to study music education at UW-Milwaukee. But months before he arrived on campus, Grabowski began to get cold feet.
“I was feeling a lot of imposter syndrome,” said Grabowski, a first-generation college student. “I had fully convinced myself that there was no way I could be a teacher.” He switched his major to chemistry.
As his first semester progressed, however, the science route didn’t feel right. Grabowski reached out to Alex Wier, associate professor and head of percussion in UWM’s Peck School of the Arts, to ask questions about the music education degree and his career prospects as a music educator.
Wier was supportive, patiently answering Grabowski’s questions. After deliberating for several weeks, Grabowski decided to take the leap and become a music education major.
The following semester, he began taking music classes and percussion lessons with Wier, while playing with campus ensembles such as the Steel PANthers. Over time, he became a valuable member of the UWM symphony band, wind ensemble, orchestra and percussion ensemble, playing a range of percussion instruments including snare and marimba. He also earned a spot on the Milwaukee Bucks drumline, performing at the Fiserv Forum for basketball games.
In his third year, Grabowski’s dreams grew even bigger. Several graduate students in the percussion studio had become his good friends and mentors, and he began thinking about following in their footsteps to get a master’s degree in performance before entering the classroom to teach. The idea of spending two more years deepening his skill as a percussionist gave him a lot of joy.
“To educate, I have to really know music and know how to perform,” he said.
During his fourth year, Grabowski began preparing for his final recital at UWM and the rigorous graduate school auditions. In addition to his weekly lessons with Wier, he began studying with Associate Adjunct Professor Chris Riggs, percussionist for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
The auditions happened to fall during Grabowski’s student teaching, a requirement for his BFA in music education. Many education majors find this initial classroom experience to be stressful. “It was literally the busiest semester of my life,” he said.
But the stress was worth it; Grabowski was accepted into four master’s programs. And Wier provided valuable guidance once again, helping him compare the programs and offers to decide which one was the best fit. “Dr. Wier was essential to all of it,” Grabowski said.
He selected Oklahoma City University as the right place to earn his Master of Music in Percussion Performance. He headed south soon after graduating from UWM in May 2026.
A few months into the master’s program, Grabowski is already thinking about the possibility of earning a doctorate in percussion performance or ethnomusicology.
“I’m so happy that I found something that I just truly love,” Grabowski said, noting that this journey feels particularly meaningful to him.
“I’m pretty much the first person in my entire family to have a college degree,” he said. “So to also pursue a master’s degree is crazy to think about.”
