Was it a waste?

The number of sleepless nights and gallons of coffee, the depressive weekends, the hungover 8 am's. I reflect on my time in undergrad and a year later I'm wondering, "was it all a waste"?

If you recognize this song, you're really gonna relate to this one...

Picture it, 2015 and you've got your whole life ahead of you. You've finally pigeon-holed yourself into something that you think you want to do and you're not only going to dedicate some of the best years of your life but a significant amount of money to this. Now, before I get too deep, there are some people who are totally finding this description to be 100% on the nose. To them I say, I'm happy for you but sashay away.

For the rest of us, I think we can understand how ridiculous a notion something like this is. How do you trust an 18-year-old to decide their entire future but not trust them to drink responsibly or rent a car?

So there I was, New Jersey, 2019, walking at my graduation with a Bachelors in Music thinking I'm going to inspire the youths of tomorrow and create some of the most beautiful music the world has ever heard. And here I am, New York, 2021, having a quarter-life crisis because I'm a dissatisfied teacher feeling underpaid, underappreciated, and overworked.

So what happened?

Well, it's quite simple. I fell in love again.

You see, I fell in love with education because I fell in love with desseminating information in a unique and accessible way about things that I was passionate about. This never changed, however, the way that I did it did.

Over the summer I got my first position as a Social Media Manager and realizing the reach and influence that I could have on other people was the same influence that I saw as an educator without the mind-numbing administrative work and questions.

Being a teacher in 2021 is like running a race with blinders on

Forrest Gump said, "Life's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get". Well Forest, if that's life then teaching in 2021 is running a race with blinders on, you never know what's going on and everyone is yelling. Maybe this is just my experience and that's fine but, I for one have way too much life ahead of me to just settle for something that doesn't fulfill me. So what do I do now?

There's a really great story on here on Vocal called Why I Quit My Job and Haven't Looked Back by Gail Fredricks and if you haven't read it, you should because it really puts things into perspective. In it, she talks about how she had a great job post-grad and just up and quit because she felt like it. And this is as valid a reason as I have ever heard. The funny thing about it is that every major self-help book out there says the same thing and it can all be summed up in the age-old cliche:

If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.

And before you go about calling me "grandpa" and "old-timer", I'll have you know that this old soul understands why cliches become cliches. It's for the same reason we good comedy is good. It's based in truth and it never loses its power. Marrie Kondo, the Japanese home guru herself has made millions off of this concept.

If it doesn't spark joy, let it go.

This concept is applicable to all aspects of life. As a result, the answer is"No", it wasn't a waste because, at one point, it did spark joy and now it doesn't. So in honor of that, I thank college for what it taught me and I let my preconceived notions on what life post-grad would be, go.

It's okay to change, and it's okay to grow out of things. I'm now 23 and happily not using my degree to make me happy and that's fine. I'm grateful for the experiences and the many lessons I've learned.