This weeks guest was Jaedon Alvira, a jazz musician. Jaedon plays the saxophone and is a member of the band Poetic Thrust. I enjoyed listening to Jaedon because he came in extremely enthusiastic and expressed his passion for music. One of the things he discussed that was really interesting  to me was how his band creates their songs. He said that the rhythm section of the band would first create the basis of the song, and then he and the trombone player would come in and add on to the song, and when all of the instrumental was done, the rappers would come in and write the lyrics. This process clearly worked very well for them because they had some great songs. It was also interesting to listen to Jaedon’s journey with music. Even with his interest in music being so strong and attending LaGuardia high school, his mother did not approve of him pursuing it as a career. This reminded me of the ongoing discussion we have in class about the “struggling artist” trope and how we are learning that it is just that, a trope. Not all artists are struggling to support themselves, and we have seen that time after time with our guests. Jaedon knew his mother would rather see him take a more traditional career path but he also knew that his own happiness was important too. Jaedon then went to SUNY Purchase for music and now is part of a band, sends out samples, teaches music and is chasing his dreams. Pursuing the arts doesn’t mean a life sentence of struggle, and it is time that people recognize that. Everyone deserves to spend their life doing what makes them happy and for some, like Jaedon, that means putting your happiness first regardless of other’s expectations.