If you had asked me throughout high school what I saw myself doing after graduation, I wouldn't have even had to have thought twice about my answer. School. I planned to go straight through college, get my bachelors in who-knows-what, then go on to get a masters. So I graduated high school, attended a beautiful school where I was lucky enough to get a great education and meet some incredible people, and my freshman year of college came and went. I declared a major in philosophy... Something I found interesting, but not anything I could ever see myself spending my life doing. Now here I am. I have a 3.5 GPA, but no clue as to what I want to do with my life. Except for one thing. Music. The one thing I have always wanted to do, but never thought I could fully pursue due to school. So, after a really rough second semester, where I really lost myself and a lot of things I thought I knew, I came home from school and decided to take a year off to do what I love.
It's hard sometimes for me to justify my decision. I feel like my intelligence is put under question and people look at me like I'm an idiot for taking the risky route rather than the smart one... the one that will promise me a job and mounds of success immediately after graduation. Truth is, I have no idea what's going to happen this year. I could go nowhere/make no progress in music. That would be fine, at least I tried and had a blast doing so. But it would really suck to be 40 years old and wish that I had taken the time at 19 to really focus on something that I really love to do. On the other hand, school isn't necessarily the "smart route" either. There are no guarantees that I will end up getting a job or being successful. at that point, I will just end up being $200,000 in debt for the rest of my life for nothing, being stuck doing something I did just to be "logical." We have all heard the saying by Wayne Gretzky "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take," and that is something I don't want on my conscience when I get older. The "what if's" would be much more painful than if I am to fail. But I won't, as long as I'm having fun.
I can always go back to school if my life in music doesn't work out. I don't expect to become the next Taylor Swift, but it's not impossible to make good money doing what I do and not having a huge name. School is not out of the question. I will finish. I will still get that degree, and hopefully end up with a masters degree in something I have a passion for. But making a name for myself in music is not something I can decide to do at any point in my life. So why not do it now? Why not take a risk? Sometimes a little risk ends up being completely worth it. Even if it means taking a leap of faith and leaving school for a year. I'm okay with that. It doesn't mean I'm any less intelligent than those who go to school four years straight through.
