Aaron Mattocks    Photo: Ian Douglas, courtesy of New York Live Arts

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior……every year is the perfect time to discuss career paths. Today I was re-reading Aaron Mattocks's artist profile on the blog. Aaron is a full-time freelance artist based in New York City. 

Aaron wrote:

There is no map for this kind of life. Even if you try to emulate someone else’s path, it’s not going to lead you to the same place. You might get a grant, you might never get one. You might get a full-time company job, with a big touring choreographer, but that choreographer will age and pass away, and the company you thought you always wanted to join might just shut down next year. The world is changing so constantly–be adaptable even while knowing where you THINK you want to end up. If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I thought any of the things I’m doing now were possible, performing full time, touring with Baryshnikov, nominated for a Bessie, I would have told you you were crazy, because I was sitting at a desk full time as an administrator for Mark Morris (I did that for 8 years!). But things have drastically changed in ways I never could have imagined, because I knew deep down where I wanted to end up, I kept my compass on those goals, and everything I did drew me nearer to the place I wanted to be. I think the best advice I got was from choreographer RoseAnne Spradlin, who said, “Draw your own map, the way you want it to look, and make it lead you where you want to go.” I couldn’t agree more.  

In a college course, or as part of an advising meeting with students, ask students to read this quote and reflect on it. Last year, what were your goals? What has remained the same, changed, grown, shifted? How are the courses you are taking this fall supporting these goals? Looking at this quote and the concept of "adaptability," how are you adapting your vision and path (why and how)?

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