Gray appeared on my screen with an eggshell wall adorned by Star Wars characters and Legos in the background, wearing a sports cap and a welcoming smile. I immediately sensed that this guy was a creative chap. My intuition was right. He was not only a musician but also a producer in his spare time.
Gray is an 18-year-old college student at Texas A&M University, studying engineering.
“I come from a small town in the middle of nowhere in Texas and I hope to make it big one day in whatever field I choose to go into.”
As we chatted, it became clear that Gray was grappling with a profound internal conflict. His fondness for engineering was undeniable, yet he was equally drawn to the world of music, a passion he had nurtured over the years.
“To be honest, this is something I’m really struggling with right now because I love Texas A&M, but there are parts where I feel like I don’t know why I’m there. Why am I taking African studies as an engineer as one of my classes? I know college makes you a rounded person, but I feel like I’m going to college right now for the money.”
As we discussed his feelings, he mentioned that his objective is to graduate, get a master’s degree, and then pursue music. As a musician myself, I stressed the importance of never stopping chasing your dreams. You can study and make music as long as you are passionate about it. Hopefully, in a couple of years, Gray will be an aspiring producer with a degree in engineering — not bad, I would say.
As our interview shifted from the “what if” to the present day, we discussed success, happiness, and failure. Each of us has a different definition of these ideals, and Gray shared his thoughts:
“I feel like there’s a saying in sports, you either win or you learn. And I think that learning from failure is the best way to learn. If you can look back holistically at what made you fail, then you can succeed in the future by changing some things as you go.”
We can only learn by failing, a truth we sometimes struggle to accept. Gray told me that his biggest fear when looking into the future is the uncertainty of the “what if.”
“The amount of uncertainty in your life that you tolerate directly correlates to the amount of happiness you’ll have,” he said.
Gray is on the right track. We often fight change, but it is only through change that we evolve.
Join us on our journey.
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This blog was written by Anais Schmidt, one of the hosts of the Uncharted Podcast. Anais is also an aspiring musician. When not in her studio, she tours Europe with Monte Mai.
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