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These are wishes from the other end of the world to you - isn't the internet magical?
A few months ago I read Seamus Heaney's address to the Chapel Hill graduates. I wanted to post it here and was glad to find it still on the net:
http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/heaney/unc-commencement.html
The best lines of this address in my opinion are :
Getting started, keeping going, getting started again -- in art and in life, it seems to me this is the essential rhythm not only of achievement but of survival, the ground of convinced action, the basis of self-esteem and the guarantee of credibility in your lives, credibility to yourselves as well as to others.
Nobody told me this when I graduated but I learnt as I am sure everyone does sooner or later through the hard way. And in keeping with the theme of getting started again is this extremely profound rhyme:
There was a man named Michael Finnigan.
He grew whiskers on his chinnigan.
The wind came up and blew them in again.
Poor old Michael Finnigan.
Begin Again.
All the profundity is in the last two words
Tongue in Cheek? No dead serious!
All the best of everything to you - Jazz.
All I can do is join in conrgatulating you JazzO, and express my conviction that your intelligence and drive wuill see you go far, in whichever direction you wish. Sorry, but inspiration seldom graces me with her presence. Chutzpah on the other hand is my constant companion, and leads me to ask this: On this momentous occasion, for which you are rightly being congratulated, is there any chance that we could, literally, hear you living up to your chosen screen handle? I'm sure that there would be room in the idrive for a recording of you playing. Your enthusiasm and vigour have already contributed much to the lively nature of this Board, and if you are able to let us hear you play, that would be a wonderful reversal of the tradition of receiving gifts on such occasions as this. Irregardless, "Well Done!", and may all your future pathways be pleasantness and peace.
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
So while none, save perhaps Janus, can say where the door you are about open will take you, I am sure that the journey will prove to be its own reward. Congratulations, Jazzoctopus, and all the very best.
the same with you.
Huh?
Like it or not, your life is changing even as I speak. Don't fight it too much, but don't let the current overwhelm you either. Oh, and as a new parent, I feel I must add that college is mind-altering enough *without the chemicals. I knew some very brilliant people who saw their lives collapse around them because of drugs at college. [/downer]
CONGRATULATIONS! May joy and happiness and enlightenment find you wherever you end up. And don't forget your friends here -- we're easy to stay in touch with!
Your wistfulnes-- and reflections will be with you all your life-- I wish for the you the life you don't expect-- Not a bad life-- but one with filled with surprizes-- and oportunities-- with unfathomed changes-- You are smart enough, and well educated enough already to enjoy such a life--
I will second Flatland-- keep an open mind-- there is so much out there-- so many topics to explore-- hold off on your major (But not quite as long as i did-- i graduated college age 40!)-- you might find your self in love with something you've never realized--
An article in the times some years ago, about college experience, related the story of a man who went to college with an athletic scholarship-- who was sure he was going to persue sports as a career- even if only as a coach or gym teacher. an english reading assignment found him reading what he thought was a sport account-- On first looking into Chapman's Homer (that he didn't know any great ball players named Chapman didn't faze him). He ended up with a Major in English lit, and a career as a writer. (On first... can be found in the verse thread.)
Best wishes to you-- except for this board-- I can't image myself enjoying time spent with a jazz loving republican --
your jazz hating NY liberal friend!
However this advise should be taken with a grain of salt, I know my advisor was talking about the first year of college, not my whole college career, I just happened to be interested in English, I also took Greek History, Pottery, Human Biology... My brother, I think, followed this advise also and wandered from department to department for thirteen years before graduating.
Although bittersweet for some, this is a great time in your life. I hope you enjoy it all, Jazz. Like Captain Kiwi, I didn't really graduate from High School, I just moved on. I think the reason this thread leans toward college advise is that life is about moving on. I used to go back to my town and there were people who hadn't moved on. They are exactly how they were in High School. That doesn't necessarily mean college, but grow. I think anyone who visits here, will always grow a little. There are some great memories out there waiting for you to add to the great ones you have of high school. If you don't add to them, you'll only have high school.
On the practical level, I echo the advice given by more than one of our community -- don't lock yourself in prematurely in your choice of subjects, classes or major. Try different fields, languages, areas -- never be afraid of being labelled a dilettante; you can't have too diverse an experience. But if you discover a passion for some subject or area, go for it; you won't be able to stop yourself anyway.
Lastly, you asked for some poetic inspiration or advice. As man to man, I think you will appreciate, and be able to apply, Tennyson's retelling of the oath the Round Table Knights swore:
I made them lay their hands in mine and swear
To reverence the King, as if he were
Their conscience, and their conscience as their King,
To break the heathen and uphold the Christ,
To ride abroad redressing human wrongs,
To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it,
To honour his own word as if his God's,
To lead sweet lives in purest chastity
...
Not only to keep down the base in man,
But teach high thought, and amiable words
And courtliness, and the desire of fame,
And love of truth, and all that makes a man.
from Idylls of the King
will not mean that you have no time or opportunity to continue delighting us with your humour and passion.
My own experience is so wildly different from yours that I will not even consider offering it as a comparator, and most of the advice that I would give you has already been given, far better than I would have managed. There is but one thing that I would reinforce and that is the advice about early specialisation and the need to avoid it. I recommend these wise words for your consideration:
A specialist is a person who learns more and more about less and less, until in the end they know absolutely everything about nothing.
As to your personal and social life, you are the best expert to advise on that - I would just say in passing that I believe the best policy about all things in life is moderation.
Moderation in all things - including moderation!
A verse from a song my mother used to sing whilst working - (no idea of its provenance):
"Go forth, and though it be o'er stony ways,
Old Time will bring what never grief may borrow;
And sweet is Sweet - but that was yesterday
And sweet is Sweet that purchaseth tomorrow."
Good luck in college, friend Jazzo: may you walk in peace.
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