I can remember the moment that my eyes were opened more vividly than any other moment in my life.  I was sitting at the piano playing the same four chords I always did, and from deep inside of me came my first two lyrics: “I Awake”.  It was at this moment that things both stopped making sense, and started to come together.  I realized that the entire hierarchy of high school in Vestal, NY was absolutely meaningless; it made no sense that it was “cool” to skip class, bully others, and drink on the weekends.  I realized that for a lot of people, high school was and would be the best chapter of their life.

I didn’t want that.

Most importantly, I realized that I was different and there was no need to try and fit into the social norms.  I wrote all of these thoughts down, and composed my first song, “Changing”, about how I was changing from what I perceived as fake, and coming to understand that things are not what they seem.

Although I met a few people similar to me in Vestal, I still felt alone and like I didn’t belong.  It wasn’t until I went to college that I found that this couldn’t be further from the truth.  I went to SUNY Geneseo for one semester right out of high school because my parents didn’t think a career in music was stable and wouldn’t let me go to Berklee.  Though I still think my parents should have let me go there immediately, I have to admit that Geneseo was a very important semester of my life in terms of defining my beliefs on society and our generation.

At Geneseo the stereotypical freshman experience was reality… Every Thurs-Sat night there was an ambulance outside of my dorm picking someone up that drank too much, everyone was hooking up, and classes and learning couldn’t have been less important.  It blew my mind that this would be the college experience for the majority…but my initial impression was wrong.  This was not the experience for the majority, but it is the experience that is perceived as cool and socially acceptable.  I found that I was not the only one staying in on the weekend, and that the others who stayed in were embarrassed just like I was.   Surprisingly, I also learned that some people that did go out often only did so because they felt like it was what they were supposed to be doing.

I have no problem with having fun, and nothing against drinking and hooking up, but I do have a problem with people doing things that are not making them happy because they feel that it’s the socially acceptable thing to do.

So, imagine this… What if cool meant being confident in who you are and making a positive impact on the world?  What if the people that stayed in on a Saturday night to read Thoreau, or create an App, or study what they are passionate about, were looked up to?

What if cool meant making a positive difference?

After I left Geneseo, a student died from alcohol poisoning while pledging a fraternity, and while I was in high school a girl committed suicide because she didn’t fit in.  This is not right, and it’s not acceptable.

Fuck social norms, it’s time that we appreciate our individuality and make a positive impact on the world.  So, take a break from your normal life, look at who you have been, learn to love who you are, and go change the world.

Adam