Huddled inside a group of familiar faces, the house lights dimmed and the velvet curtains rose. To see my friend Zach pounding away on the drums while people all around me hollered the names of YouTube sensations, it was surreal. Spotlights swayed across the stage and any moment they lingered on the drum kit we roared. It was the excitement of seeing our friend play at a popular Miami Beach venue that made us stand on tip-toes to see him, and yell out his name even before the singers were able to properly introduce him. But the electricity of that moment extended beyond this first leap toward success, it was also about knowing that this was not miraculous, it was hard work. It was seeing Zach play drums for years at his church, practicing for hours, getting into and succeeding at Berklee, finding the thread to balance on between self-doubt and pride, moving to a faraway state to make ends meet and network, and knowing that this moment wasn't a romanticized dream or circumstance. It wasn't a lottery. He earned this. After the show, gathered around friends and family, he tells me "The moments of depression, the self-doubt, the wondering if you're ever going to get there, I know those moments, I live them. But don't listen to that, and don't listen to the expectations of 'making it' at 22 years old. Focus on the hard work that it takes to be ready for those opportunities, because they will happen, and it's up to you to be prepared for when they appear. Be ready." And I wondered, am I ready?
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