From Get Real and Get In by Dr. Aviva Legatt. Copyright © 2021 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

Chapter 11

LESSONS FROM JOSHUA’S STORY

• Pursue things just because you’re interested in them. When Joshua was a high school and undergrad student studying languages, he couldn’t have known that he was preparing for his eventual career as a world-renowned choral conductor. Yet a firm grasp of languages is a skill of key importance for the vocal arts, given the vast repertoire of works in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian . . . understanding the language is key to understanding the music. Joshua liked languages, so he studied them. Period. He had vague thoughts of a future career, but Joshua learned languages for the fun of it.
• Do you have “just for the fun of it” hobbies? Often, we hold ourselves back from pursuing our curiosity because we don’t see how a certain activity will fit into our life plan. Yet there’s an invisible thread that runs through our lives and connects one thing to everything else. We can’t see the whole tapestry, how the development of one skill leads to success in a