Art is an important way for us to find the answers to questions that we did not even know we
were looking for answers to.
Music is one of the key forms of art from which we can often find these answers. Over this past year, some of my friends got me to listen to the artist Quinn XCII.
In one of his most recent songs, “The Lows,” he brought forth a message that especially resonates with people like us, who are just some average college students living.
He talks about the fact that life is full of ups and downs.
However, life’s most beautiful moments become significantly more special because of the path and roller coaster that has brought us to this point.
We’re only just beginning our journeys towards lifelong goals.
But our college years are the ones that test us far beyond the tests that we have encountered thus far in life.
College often has a tendency to bring forth new challenges in several different forms.
We are going through the challenges that are associated with adulthood, but simultaneously we are also going through the challenges associated with young adulthood. On one side, we are faced with problems and worries such as the ones associated with the economy and job market.
We often hear about layoffs in various industries, “job saturation” and other industry challenges.
Now, as we are competing for these experiences, whether that is for internships or full-time opportunities, these are the current adversities that we must battle through.
This builds to an ever increasing test of uncertainty.
We wonder whether this may be the breakthrough moment we have been working for or another continued trial.
On the other hand, we have the pressures that come with youth and young adulthood.
These can range from a wide spectrum of things: from trying to figure out what exactly we want to do post-graduation and what gives us our unique drive to managing our course loads to maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
College is a test all about navigating each of these aspects of our life and learning to adapt to change, but these are all large hurdles that when coupled together, truly test our resilience
and can leave us feeling lost.
In the song “The Lows,” Quinn illustrates this idea as he sings “overthinkin’ worries … it’s all blurry like snow flurries, I don’t know what to do.”
In the moments we feel lost, Quinn shares a powerful universal truth in “The Lows.”
Quinn sings “but my highs don’t stand a chance without the low, low, low, lows.”
During our lows and biggest obstacles, we feel lost, but getting through those moments makes our few moments of celebration so special.
When we find the answers to our greatest problems or the sources of our lows, it makes the journey to get to that point extra special to us.
As we look back on journeys, not only do we see what we did along the way, but how we responded to each of the times when adversity hit us hard.
When life hits us hard, would we break and accept defeat or stay intact to continue the journey?
Along the way, when we feel lost, we are never alone. We always have our support system.
They too are going through similar instances, and these are times when we understand the importance of those of us in our support system.
It is important to realize that we are defined as more than the internship or job that we hold or the GPA that we achieve.
Rather, what matters is the genuine people we as individuals are throughout our journeys.
Along this journey, we encounter many highs and lows. We are never alone in these times. Our support system gets us through our lows and makes our highs far more worth it. Our lows make us stronger for a better tomorrow.
Whenever we feel lost as Quinn describes, we can also look and find our light or hope that keeps us going.
Only then, can we truly see the largest fruits of our labor come to life and that our end goals were possible because of the lows we encountered on our way there.
Don’t let your confidence waver because your sun will come up as Quinn sings “cause you can’t have the sun without the moon.”