Before I disengage myself from these memories of Chicago, allow me the luxury of one more. Friday night my father and I went to a concert at a church near their soon to be sold condo. It was a small string orchestra doing three pieces from Mozart in celebration of his 250 birthday. They brought in several wind instruments for two of the pieces as needed, and a famous violinist assisted with the violin concerto.
This concert was a small affair… one of many in the city that night. The music was quite good, and the performers did wonderfully. But what I noticed most of all was the students there. In contrast to the art institute, they were happily there. That night, I remembered the biggest thing I left; academic studies. One subject was never enough for me. Art and music are just a few of the many that I’ve lost myself within. Though my parents would find fault with my memory, I did love to learn. And I saw that in these students eyes. I’m doing now exactly what I didn’t want to do then; do one thing. Learn it in the way that is prescribed. Learn one subject so deeply that you can never escape.
For the record, computers were always just a hobby for me. Regardless of the fact that I’m better at working with computers then any other subject, it was only a hobby. When given a choice I didn’t choose computers, I chose philosophy and I chosed chemistry. How could I have a job in something that I did just for fun? In hindsight, I realized I never wanted to ‘work’ with something I did for fun. I didn’t want to ruin it and I wanted to learn more about other things. Of course, now I know there never was a choice. If I’m good at it, and it’s fun, I should do it. But that took years for me to learn. I only hope that those students know that now.