Bravo is very proud of all our graduating musicians! Below is a list of students we have graduating. If you are a student who is graduating, yet do not see your name on the list, please reach out and we will add you! In addition, if any information is missing, please let us know.
As you are graduating, no matter elementary or college, there are a few things to remember going forward. The younger you learn these secrets to life, the better a life you will have. Bravo, class of ’22!
What Makes a Good Life?
What is the most important thing in life? Is it how popular you are? How much money you have? What job you end up with? The answer may surprise you.
One of the most important things in life is actually the memories you make (Sam Golbach). When you get older, it’s not going to matter how many people you had surrounding you, how much money you made, or if you just had a relaxing night at home.
What matters is living life to make the best memories possible. Surround yourself with a few people you truly love, that care about you, and seek out amazing memories. Do an open mic night, travel, take a chance on that thing your afraid of, get a group of friends together to go to Chuck E. Cheese despite the fact you’re adults (speaking from experience, haha). If something sounds like it would make a good story to tell when you get old, go for it (Sam Golbach). The important thing is to take chances and make great memories with great people. If you don’t go for it, you’ll regret it (Sam Golbach). Check out Sam’s full video below!
Do What You Love
In addition, if I can add some of my own words of wisdom, as cheesy as it sounds, do what you love. No matter what, there is always a way to make your dream come true. It may seem like a lot of work, but you’ll regret it if you look back on your life and realize you didn’t do the thing that gave you such happiness. I’ve always known music was my calling and passion in life so I am working hard to make that dream a reality, and it’s happening. Sometimes your dream may not happen the way you imagined or on your timetable, but if something brings you joy, can reach others, etc., go for that dream and do what it takes to always do what you love.
Life Hacks for the Graduates
On the other hand, Dr. Taylor Swift graduated from New York University this past May. As a talented musician who has inspired a whole generation of songwriters and fellow musicians, she had some pretty important things to say herself to the class of 2022. If you are interested in reading the speech, I will link it below, but here are some of the highlights:
- Pick what lifts you up in life and brings you joy, let go of grudges, hurt, etc.
- Don’t be afraid of mistakes because sometimes they lead to the best things that have ever happened to you.
- “Cringe is unavoidable”
- Don’t hide your enthusiasm for whatever it is you like!
- “NEVER BE ASHAMED OF TRYING. Effortlessness is a myth.”
- Who you want to be is “totally up to you” and if you decide to change anything, that is “totally up to you.”
- You’re going to deal with embarrassment no matter what, just keep going.
- Being told “no” is just as important as being told “yes.”
- You’re going to mess up and life won’t be fair, but for as much as you lose, you’ll gain things as well.
- The things that happen to us do help us to grow and become more resilient.
Finally, “every choice you make leads to the next choice which leads to the next, and I know it’s hard to know sometimes which path to take. There will be times in life when you need to stand up for yourself. Times when the right thing is to back down and apologize. Times when the right thing is to fight, times when the right thing is to turn and run. Times to hold on with all you have and times to let go with grace. Sometimes the right thing to do is to throw out the old schools of thought in the name of progress and reform. Sometimes the right thing to do is to listen to the wisdom of those who have come before us. How will you know what the right choice is in these crucial moments? You won’t . . . We are led by our gut instincts, our intuition, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. . . Anyway…hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it . . . As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. And I’m a doctor now, so I know how breathing works. We’re doing this together. So let’s just keep dancing like we’re…
… the class of ’22.”
– Dr. Taylor Swift
Elementary:
Abbey Lett
Ava Leighton
Colin Barker
Middle School:
Adison Lekberg-McLaughlin
Calvin Kimpsey
Gwen Adams (will be attending Appomattox Governor School for the Arts as an Art major)
Lydia Joh
Max Meyer
Mis Bailey (will be attending Thomas Dale’s Specialty Center for the Arts for Voice)
High School:
Christie Pierre-Louis
Ella Wharton
Rheanna Woodcock (Thomas Dale Specialty Center for the Arts)
Valentina Hebb (Thomas Dale Specialty Center for the Arts)
Bibliography
Dailey, Hannah. “Taylor Swift’s NYU Commencement Speech: Read the Full Transcript.” Billboard. May 18, 2022. https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-nyu-commencement-speech-full-transcript-1235072824/
Golbach, Sam. “Memories.” Dumb and Wise. June 8, 2022. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cegv-yIglqF/
PC: Instagram: @samandcolby, @dumbandwise, Twitter