Music, life, and moving on

(Play Baadsvik Academy opening) I am a musician. Many of you know this, as you have heard me play at plenty of school functions. In fact, some of you may remember me playing the solo tuba part on “The Old Grumbly Bear” just a month or two ago, right here in this parking lot. All through high school I have taken every opportunity possible to play music, whether it be at basketball games, during school concerts , or even organizing a recital for myself in the middle of a pandemic. Music to me is like sports to some people, or academics to others, or anything else people are really passionate about. All people are passionate about something, that is simply a fact of life. Some are more passionate than others, and some are passionate about different things, but it is always there . Through playing and teaching music I have learned a lot of things about life, and who people are.

“Music,” as the quote from author Georgia Cates goes, “is what feelings sound like.” Now, I know this is a bit cliche, but in a sense it leads to one of the truest lessons I have learned from music: Feeling your emotions can help improve every aspect of your life. Music has such a profound impact on us all. Just look at anyone who hears a song they associate with their past. These songs can take us back to that exact time in our lives, make us remember the headspace we were in at the time, and let us relive the memories all over again. Music also lets us see pictures in our mind that we never would have thought of without it, or makes us feel things we otherwise wouldn’t let ourselves feel. Take, for example, this piece of music: (Vaughan Williams 2nd Movement phrase 1) What does listening to that make you feel? Sadness? Happiness? Serenity? Peace? Everyone may have their own interpretation, and this is exactly the beauty of music. It makes you feel something, and you don’t have to be able to describe it. These feelings bring so much into our lives.

But maybe you said “I didn’t feel anything from that.” That would be a valid response too. However, just like our feelings in life, they are subconsciously there. You just aren’t in touch enough with those feelings to name them. All these feelings and even the “non-feelings” are a great allegory to graduation. Some of us up here have mixed emotions about graduating, some of us are happy about it, and some of us are still in denial. However, I believe this new stage in our life will be a welcome one. Just like a long symphony breaking into a new movement, this marks the beginning of the next section of our lives. It may seem completely different when first looked at, but it is still a part of the same overarching structure, and carries over some commonalities. We may develop differently over the course of our lives after high school, but at the core of who we are, we will still be the same people, all the products of our time at Rib Lake High School. So, where to from here? Some of us are going to college for music, animal science, or psychology. Some are going into welding, diesel mechanics, and other trades. Some don’t even have an idea of where to start. No matter what we choose to do though, I think that Rib Lake’s class of 2021, this tiny little graduating group of 18 seniors, will make a difference moving on into the future. It really is amazing what our tiny group can do when we work toward a common goal. Just look at our junior year, when Mrs. Budimlija said we would get to pick out her prom outfit if we raised our class’s average ACT score by two or more points compared to the practice ACT. We made it happen! Sadly there was no prom last year, but in the name of good sportsmanship, she has agreed to keep the deal for this year. I’m thinking... Hmm.. . Lady Gaga meat dress? Anyway, you get the point.

Everybody really had to pull their weight to bring that average up, and that was for something as silly as choosing a funny-looking prom outfit for our principal. Imagine what we could do with a bigger cause to get behind. Now, class of 2021, let’s all move on from this place and show the world what 18 kids from Rib Lake, Wisconsin can do (Duh duh-duh DAHHHH) — Bud Schreiner, Rib Lake High School Valedictorian