Yeah, that's right, I quoted a P. Diddy song (or I guess we should call him Swag now...). But in all seriousness, this blog post has to do with making money. Being a junior, I've been thinking a lot about colleges, and not just where I'm going, but what I am going to study when I get there. I would love to study music composition, and hopefully be a professional composer, but my parents aren't so sure about the idea.
Of course I know that it is very very difficult to make it in the music industry. I would not only need talent, but I would also need connections. Because of this, my parents want me to make sure that I make a good living, and they want me to double major. Now I definitely understand this, but it just made me think about our society and our values.
We have talked in class a lot about the American Dream and what it means to people of different classes and backgrounds. Generally, the American Dream is that a person can always make a better life for themselves. They can earn more money, get a bigger house, and overall have a better quality of life. It seems that, because this is so engrained into the minds of people here, this is what is causing my parents to want me to make a living doing something that I may not be fully committed to. It seems that even if I am unhappy in a job, everything is great as long as I am making a good living. And while I agree (because it is engrained in my mind too), I have to say that it makes me wonder if having another job and almost securing earning a good living would truly make me happy. I could always keep music in my life and do it on the side (Mr. Bolos does this), but I am really not sure if that is what I want to do. Oh well, while I think about it, I'll be looking into more colleges!
I have thought a lot about this too and like you, I am going to double major with one major being music because no matter how much I like music it isn't a "stable living". I've joked to my friends before that I'll just marry a billionaire and then get whatever job I want, but that kinda sounds appealing!
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of what people see in the American Dream is enough money to have the freedom to pursue the things that they love without having to worry about finances. Since you and I both grow up in situations where we have had enough money as children to do things like music, they appeal to us as career choices even though our parents might want us to get higher powered jobs.