Practicality before passion isn’t always bad

I have a friend who would rather be a teacher than a lawyer. But she spends hours poring over LSAT prep books and manuals.

Last week I was at an apartment where four guys hosted a jazz night, but I doubt any of them are going to set out for a musician’s life. They played for hours and had wine and cheese out to set the right atmosphere for their audience. This time next year they will probably be at some real job.

The automatic instinct at this point is to lament the practicality of our generation and mourn the loss of our art.

But it really doesn’t have to be like that. We can be practical and still pursue a passion. This is basically the worst time to enter any job field, and seeing as the graduating class wasn’t taught how to stop time or reverse it, we have to be cautious with our choices.

I’m sure everyone knows someone who is talented and interested in a particular field but is pursuing something else as his or her life’s work.

Dancers who are out obtaining their CPAs, stand-up comics going into law or singers applying to medical school are just not that uncommon.

We are just not that bohemian anymore. Freezing in a loft somewhere (almost always New York), grasping and clawing at your art, and rejecting the system doesn’t seem to really factor into our career choices.

And I don’t blame us. If there is a raging muse inside you that won’t rest until you brave the world with guitar, ballet shoes or paintbrush in hand then I say, go for the risk. But there is nothing wrong with maintaining an interest and choosing something else for a career, which is what many Bruins are in the midst of doing.

Being a fourth-year on this campus, or any campus I suppose, is just plain awkward. I spend half my time dodging questions about what my plans are for next year and the other half trying to wheedle answers from other fourth-years to that same query.

I wouldn’t be that surprised if my GPA plummeted this year as I try to secure a lucrative and interesting future. Of course, it doesn’t help when the economy has an acute case of Attention Deficit Disorder. Even the “real” jobs that we were so encouraged to go into are teetering and tottering dangerously on the edge of security and practicality.

Investment banking used to be a hyped-up, souped-up, reach-for-the-stars kind of “real” job, but now the profession has pretty much disappeared. Prestigious investment banks such as Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers recruited Bruins last year, but today the companies don’t exist. And with all the extra regulations Capitol Hill is planning, jobs in that profession are not likely to reappear any time soon.

Even though her chosen field is not directly under fire, Jessica Ngo, a fourth-year economics student, is worried. She received an offer from PricewaterhouseCoopers this summer to be a tax associate starting in September.

“Sometimes, offers are rescinded. I would not really be worried about this two years ago. But because the economy is so bad, the word on the street isn’t so good,” she said.

But even these risks seem miniscule when compared to the alternatives.

It’s just not possible for everyone to sing on Broadway or write the great American novel. I’m not saying that you should give up your dream or your talent to be more practical. I’m saying that even if a given Bruin ““ let’s call him Joe ““ picks a career that he is interested in, which is also practical, he can maintain his talent or passion on the side.

The embrace of one does not necessarily mean the rejection of another. This might not be the stuff of heartwarming Disney movies, but I think that it would be wrong to reject something realistic because you thought it would completely alienate you from something that is your passion, and vice versa.

What is so wrong with being practical or realistic?

It is something else entirely to deny an actual need to practice an art than it is to blindly keep doing something you liked in high school.

It is always difficult to figure out what we are going to do with our lives.

Essentially, UCLA is a giant holding pen for all of us as we mull around its corridors figuring out a possible career or interest.

Even if you are not on the lookout for an epic life quest, you probably give some thought to the next step: the world after college.

Many people scorn the thought of approaching this next step with a rational mindset. It’s easy to look at other people and designate them to a certain job or field because they seem to love it.

But try doing that with yourself. Unless you are some sort of Mozart or Shakespeare type, what you want to do or should do in the future is not very obvious or easy to decide.

Having a rock-solid foundation can’t ever hurt you. And picking a stable field does not entail a complete denial of other interests in art or music. They are not mutually exclusive.

E-mail Joshi at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].