Clarity {Luke Hemmings}

O N E

It seems like life is always trying to "prepare" us. Pre-school preps for elementary, elementary for middle, middle for high, high school preps for college, and college for... well, life. You would think through all the preparation that one would feel sure of themselves and their abilities, but that couldn't be further from the truth. As a sophomore in college, I am meant to have some of my future thought out. And when I say "thought out" I don't mean the bullshit answers you give the family and friends who kindly showed up to your graduation party. "So Rennick, where to do you plan to go to school?", "Rennick what are your career plans?", "Rennick what are you majoring in?". Question after question that won't take "I DON"T KNOW" for an answer. So, my bullshit answer? Law. I was going to be a lawyer. And my bullshit followed all the way into my "deciding your major" meeting. So, here I am... a sophomore prelaw student at the University of Chicago. 

If I am being honest, all I really want out of life is music. I could be homeless, living on the streets, being hungry, if I just had music. I've always loved completely immersing myself in a song. The steady pounding of the drums entering your very core, smooth, deep tones of the bass vibrating your bones, the confident melodies of the guitar... I loved every single bit of it. Music is something I have always loved and gotten passionate about, unfortunately, a prelaw student who wants to study to U2 or Foo Fighters is pretty hard to come by these days... in fact, it's impossible to come by. Does that bother me? It used to. I hated being the loner. I wanted to fit in, be a part of a group... and then I realized something. I was a part of something so much greater than any college group. I was a part of a movement. A movement of individuality, freedom, expression, and nonconformity. That is what I kept inside my head when I needed the reminders most. And this summer, I decided I needed to experience it first hand. I wanted to get the live experience, not the one I got from my headphones in the library at 3:00 am. 

Junior year is when the prelaw major really starts kicking your ass, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if my "bullshit answer" was going to be enough of a motivation to get me through it. I needed a way to search within myself, to find what I wanted out of life... to clear my head by filling it with the anthems that continued to bring me life. How was I spending my summer? Following one of my all time favorite bands as the toured the United States. 50 shows, 48 states, 5 Seconds of Summer. I had my concert tickets, planes booked and hotel rooms reserved. I was ready. More than ready. These four boys have inspired me through their refusal to conform. The fact that they had found success in something they are so deeply passionate about, whilst still remaining true to themselves was so impressive to me. I was more than willing to support them and witness what they had to offer live.. Little did I know how inspiring they truly were. Little did I know just how much they actually had to offer. Little did I know that my world was about to change forever... no more bullshit answers for me.