Four years ago I was a freshman in college. After a few weeks of excitement, confusion, and general mayhem, I found my university experience had settled into a rhythm. Going to my entry-level classes I almost felt like I was back in high school, except now my commute consisted all of 5 minutes. I found myself with odd and inconvenient pockets of free time between my responsibilities, and I was looking for a fulfilling way to use them. At this point most people would have joined some sort of club or student organization, but I bought a ukulele.
This sounds anti-social. But do you know just how anti-anti-social this decision was? I’ll let you borrow it sometime and I challenge you to walk around one day without talking to a single person: impossible. It’s funny how disarming this little oddity is. It’s disruptive, and the fact that someone would walk around campus with it even more so.
The ukulele is just one manifestation of my passion for music, but it’s one that has taught me so much about being human. It doesn’t just break the ice. It melts it completely. People forget that there is even supposed to be ice when they see it. This is a testament to the power that music has to bring people together. The ukulele started as a productive way for me to spend some time, but has evolved into a prolonged social experiment. It has forced me to become more outgoing and confident in the way I interact with people, while also inspiring others to feel the same way. Suddenly awkward introductions vanish in lieu of a commonality: music.
This sounds anti-social. But do you know just how anti-anti-social this decision was? I’ll let you borrow it sometime and I challenge you to walk around one day without talking to a single person: impossible. It’s funny how disarming this little oddity is. It’s disruptive, and the fact that someone would walk around campus with it even more so.
The ukulele is just one manifestation of my passion for music, but it’s one that has taught me so much about being human. It doesn’t just break the ice. It melts it completely. People forget that there is even supposed to be ice when they see it. This is a testament to the power that music has to bring people together. The ukulele started as a productive way for me to spend some time, but has evolved into a prolonged social experiment. It has forced me to become more outgoing and confident in the way I interact with people, while also inspiring others to feel the same way. Suddenly awkward introductions vanish in lieu of a commonality: music.
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