From the start they all said it was a waste of time

They said I was frying brain cells in the plasma of another world

They said the nonsense I spoke would translate to nothing

They said my wild, crazy choreography would lead nowhere

They said my foreign singing would never be heard

Just because it was different it was useless

My new obsession was never understood, never fathomable to manifest into anything remotely comparable to my academic counterparts

Test scores, essays, homework were normal, safe, reliable

They said stick with what you know, yet I drove into the unknown void

It engulfed me wherever I went pushing me to think off my continent, work harder, be better

But they said it was a waste of time

It provided a home more loving and supportive than ‘friendships’ they said I should want

But they said it was nothing special

It got me a spot on my college application making me ‘unique’ and ‘diverse’ something desirable

But they said it wasn’t normal

This glorious world of life, song, passion took me further than anything they had to offer me

But they said not to waste my breath

This street of unfamiliar self esteem and beauty gave me back confidence that had been devoured by high school tyrants and valedictorians

But they said not to give it a second glance

This magnificent place of utter joy and amity took me out of the depths of caged thoughts of conventional academia and showed me what true happiness is

And they said it was useless