Thnks fr th Mmrs: a Fond Look Back

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '08,

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.

For this post-show blog, I'm gonna kick off the discussion this week talking about what I miss from my high school ensemble. Why do I feel entitled to effuse my wealth of knowledge and abuse the "Introductions" blog like this? Because I'm F-ing old, that's why! I may still listen to Miley Cyrus while I study, but I actually graduated from high school four years ago. I am a proud member of the Albuquerque Academy class of 2004. Weird...it doesn't seem that long ago, but sometimes it feels like a million years.

I'm not gonna get all nostalgic on you, reminiscing about how it was a simpler time when I was a high schooler, back when "I Want it That Way" ruled the airwaves and Will Ferrell was the coolest cat on SNL. But after having been in a collegiate music setting for four years, there is one key element that I do miss from my high school choral experience: fun.

Please don't misunderstand- I love what I do. There's a reason why I coerced my parents into shelling out major bucks to send me to a kick-ass university. There is nothing in the world that makes me happier than being on stage and singing in front of an audience. Like, if I were given the choice between making a living singing on stage or marrying Reese Witherspoon, I'd tell Miss Delta Nu to take a hike.

But I do think that there is a sliver of fun that is lost in the transition from high school music to college music. I went to a small private school for grades 6-12. By the time I got to senior year, I was really great friends with all the girls who did chorus with me since we were 6th graders. And while I'm the only one (that I know of) that went on to pursue music academically, I can say in full earnest that the people that I was in chorus with not only helped made me the musician I am today, but they made me the person I am today too.

*If you have the song "Graduation" by Vitamin C, you should start playing it...I'll wait*

Certainly, my favorite part of being in my high school chorus was the trips we took. We only took a few but, in retrospect, they were some of the major highlights of my high school career. I remember in April of my senior year I went to a big music/arts festival in good ol' Texas and it was one of the most incredible trips of my life. I had just gone through some major Prom drama and I was ready to just leave all of high school behind. But on this trip I reconnected with my choir friends for one last huzzah, did an unprecedented amount of self discovery, and actually worked up the nerve to not only talk to a cute girl, but to ask for her AIM address (in case you were wondering, we still talk to this day).

It might be prudent to insert here that back in High School, I was not the suave, sensuous, international sex symbol I am today. I was admittedly a bit on the nerdy side. And by "a bit," I mean that I made Seth Cohen look like Alonzo Harris by comparison. But music was the one constant in my High School career and my friends were an inextricable part of that experience.

I guess it comes down to this: in High School, we were all friends first and colleagues second. In college, we're colleagues first and friends second...unless you're a light lyric soprano, in which case you're colleagues first, mortal enemies second, and friends third. I must stress that I am good friends with most all the people I work with. We socialize outside of rehearsal, certainly, but for the most part between the hours of 5:30-8:30PM, we were there to work. No matter where you go to college, you are in an environment where people are there to improve, to work, and to eventually be good enough to actually earn their living making music, and I can only imagine the separation of business and pleasure will continue to get bigger the older I get. I guess what I'm getting at here is I want you to always remember to enjoy whatever it is that you're doing. Whether it's music, psychology, Spanish, interior design, or Culinary school, it may get hard, it may get competitive, and it may not be very fun. But I encourage you to look back on high school and, if nothing else, don't forget to reminisce about the good times as well as the bad ones.

I know I said I wouldn't get all nostalgic, so I'm sorry for that. But I really liked high school, and unlike a lot of people, I'd go back in a second if given the chance. As much as I love the path I've chosen I have fond memories of being presented with infinite possibilities when I graduated. As soon as I got that high school diploma, I felt like the whole world had opened up for me. I felt like I could choose to be whatever I wanted to be. And I think I chose right. I made it here, didn't I?

Some of this advice might not apply to you. Some of you out there know exactly what you want to do with your lives and I applaud you for it. But I was just not that focused coming out of high school. Hell, I'm still not all that focused now. I'll admit it: all the advice and recollections you just read comes from a guy who is *still* figuring out what he wants to do with his life. Therefore, a majority of my advice should be taken with a grain of salt.

But trust me on the sunscreen.