The Power of "And"

 

One of the best parts of being a college professor is the opportunity to help young people find the answers to their own problems.  It's quite an honor to be entrusted with the well being of someone's son or daughter...and not a duty to be taken lightly.  

The pressures come from all corners...concerned parents attempting to make the most of hard-earned tuition dollars, a fickle and ever-changing job market, and the self-questioning souls of the students we are speaking with.  All of these stakeholders agonize if the one true path is revealing itself; a road to enlightenment, self-actualization, and financial security surely exists somewhere, right?

Yes.  And no.  The key word is "and." 

One of the most honest pieces of advice I have ever given my students is that no single or "right" path to success truly exists, especially when the very concept of "success" changes in ways similar to our own biological existence.  Most parts of our own bodies are cellularly replaced every 7-10 years, meaning that, at a physical level, we are NOT the same people we were a decade ago (https://www.discovery.com/science/Body-Really-Replace-Itself-Every-7-Years).  Though the brain is exempted from this perpetual regeneration machine, our soul is still cradled in a body that grows, changes, and affects our interaction with the world around us. 

To that end, it only makes sense that a variety of paths might appeal to us in different ways at different times.  In the same way that the muscles of a young gymnast lack the stability and function of an experienced pro, the inexperienced writer (of blogs, even), might have different interests than the author of many books.  The brain, it seems, is affected by the machine it rides within.  It makes sense to be open and versatile...and to embrace the "and." 

Be they personality tests, forced academic distribution rankings, or grades, many people (especially students) feel the need to identify with a particular discipline or field of study.  I teach an exploratory class for freshmen who are still deciding what major they should pick.  To many who have already focused on a specific career path, it seems an all-defining choice; I am going to be a health-sciences professional.  Or a business analytics specialist.  Or perhaps an environmental engineer. 

There is little doubt in my mind that some of this unilateral focus comes from our increasingly binary world.  We vote republican or democrat.  We like Coke or Pepsi.  We are religious or atheist.  The increasing presence of analytics in everything from our web-browsing habits to our data-generating personal devices and appliances has given someone, somewhere, the ability to distill us down to our essence.  To quantify us.  To decide our college choices and career paths based on a standardized test that knows our souls better than we do.  To define our decisions for us. 

My response to this quantitative conundrum: &

Despite what college freshmen (or 47-year-old amateur bloggers) might think, a career or lifestyle choice usually isn't like standing on the edge of a fiery pit.  There are no helicopters hovering overhead asking which lifeline we will choose before we fall into the abyss.  The noble myths of the starving artist or workaholic physician exist because of their romanticized notions, but don't have to be life-long solitary commitments.  

Why?  Because of &. 

I have repeatedly told my students, you can be a physician assistant AND a drummer. Or an accountant AND an actor.  You can even be a college professor AND a rock and roll bass player.  

And it's never been easier.  Between easy access to information on a variety of devices, resources such as YouTube, which distill hard-won skills into easily ingested videos, and the so-called Flynn Effect (i.e each generation's intelligence builds on the previous one), there are countless ways to decide what your "&" will be (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-03-06/humanity-keeps-getting-smarter).  The choice of what major will appear on our college diplomas is rapidly becoming far less important than the critical skills we might learn while on campus.  

In that essence, the choice of major appears far less defining than the very act of being SOMEWHERE your mind can open and grow.  

The choice of a major doesn't, in most schools, commit a student to a hermetically-sealed train in a vacuum tube railway.  Indeed, the much maligned "core curriculum" of many colleges ensures that students will NOT be cloistered into a single career preparedness path or discipline.  Instead, students are given many opportunities to discover their "and" (or multiple "and's") while still becoming more inquisitive critical thinkers...and maybe human beings with a passion for the world around them. 

In a country where our Bureau of Labor Statitics (BLS) estimates that most people stay at a job for about 4 years, the "and" has never been a more important career attribute (https://wallethacks.com/many-jobs-average-worker-means/).  Directly stated, the modern employee must be adaptable and geared for change.  The positive spin to the BLS finding is that people are also feeling more comfortable (and possibly even excited) about transitioning to new jobs and even careers. 

As a teacher AND a musician, I've got lots of company.  Sting, Sheryl Crow, Art Garfunkel, and even Gene Simmons started their paths to stardom at the front of the classroom.  Sometimes the superstar path even goes the other direction; the original (and best) "Robocop," Peter Weller, teaches art history in Detroit!  

There are other and more tangible benefits to the "and" as well.  Despite my respect for musical friends and colleagues who are doing their best to "make it" in a traditional music scene by giving it their all, the "and" that ties me to a traditional career provides me with things many touring musicians could only dream of: Retirement funds, healthcare, and a stable schedule.  By accepting my compromises that limit my musical adventures to those of a weekend warrior, I gain another creative outlet in the classroom. The same could be said of my friends who maintain home studios for paining and photography after a long day treating patients or my wife whose culinary exploits are subsidized by her work as a nurse.  

If you consider a major or a career path as a "lock," consider "&" to be your key.  It is a tool to a flexible (and satisfying) life...and potentially a new career. Follow your passion AND pay the rent.