Two days ago I covered a Marquette University event featuring the singer and musician, John Ondrasik, from Five for Fighting.
Coming into the piece, I knew the story would be heart filled and entertaining, growing up listening to his music like, "A Hundred Years" and "Superman". But what I didn't expect is to be completely inspired-- about my career and about his.
Ondrasik grew up surrounded by music. His mom was a piano teacher and he began lessons at age three. His dad, on the other hand, was an aerospace engineer and did numerous projects with NASA.
When he went to college, Ondrasik thought about what he wanted to do with his life, and had the same questions as me. What is going to get me a job? Is this what I really love? Should I think realistically about my future or fantacize about it?
What he ended up majoring in was Applied Math, a skill he says, "he rarely uses today." But besides that, Ondrasik says he put in over 100,000 hours of work, performed in hundreds of small venues and wrote thousands of songs before he ever got paid for it.
He told the audience to do what you love, but if that doesn't work, find something you are interested in so you can fall back on that too.
I am a person of many interests and hobbies. I enjoy writing, science, dance and occasionally an algebra problem or two. My family has always told me that if I really want something, I can achieve it with hard work and practice.
This idea has helped me through some frustrating times in my life as well as encouraged me to teach myself new skills. I have taught myself how to play guitar, walk on stilts and do the splitz.
So if I'm really interested in both, why can't I do Science and Journalism? Why does it have to be one or the other? Why do I have to limit myself to one skill, when life is always changing and teaching me new things about my identity as a person?
I know Jake would've wanted me to follow my heart, and follow my dreams, but I wasn't sure what that entailed. When I met Jake, I was an aspiring environmentalist who craved to save the world by spreading the word about pollution and how we could reduce our carbon footprint. That was something Jake always loved about me-- I had high goals and aspirations and had it set in my mind that I could achieve them if I put in the long hours and work. At the time I wore organic clothing, rode my bike and was a vegetarian for a little while.
After seeing Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvient Truth, it scared me. Actually...it terrified me. But I don't think that was the film's goal, or even its purpose. Yes, it was supposed to wake us up, help us realize that although it may be "inconvient" to make environmental change we HAVE to do something to about it. It was meant to inspire and encourage viewers to act now while we still have the chance. And that is what that film did. It inspired me.
I am still on the quest for finding out what I want out of life, and what my calling is as a student and a person. Going and covering the Five for Fighting event really sparked something in me, and ignited a thought that I haven't considered in a while.
What kind of world do I want? Think anything...
