About me:
For all those who do and all those who don’t know me, my name is Xander Salsitz. I’m a sophomore at the University of Michigan studying Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation (JCI) and Performing Arts Management and Entrepreneurship (PAME). I’ve been studying jazz since middle school, where I started on clarinet. I’m very honored and excited to have the opportunity to study music in college. However, my life doesn’t end there, I’ve got lots going on!
Thoughts on School:
My first year of college went by like a breeze, yet felt as slow as the seasons change. Now that I’m in my sophomore year and in an apartment with my partner, it feels like I can’t do enough. I’m taking multiple writing-intensive courses this semester, which has been hard to manage. I love writing, but I am realizing that I fall quite on the ADHD side of life, negatively impacting my ability to focus and get work done on time. With writing, this hits hard: Not being able to consistently work on six-page papers over a few weeks makes it very difficult to produce good results. Just as I am studying jazz – an art form of improvisation – I have had to learn to go with the flow and simply do what I can when I can. I’ve been doing a lot of future-thinking recently, and am wondering where my path will take me once I graduate from UofM.
The Future:
Since I went to the Netherlands in middle school with my family, I’ve fallen in love with the country, culture, and transportation. From high school onwards, I’ve been learning Dutch to someday move to the Netherlands. The goal? I’d love to start a tiny hole-in-the-wall jazz café where the atmosphere and coffee blend together to stimulate the mind in fantastic ways. I don’t want to give up my passion for music, but I aim to have a steady income. Maybe I’ll be up on the international stage performing in front of thousands, or maybe I’ll be in my corner of Utrecht making coffee for the people. Either way, I know that I’ll make an impact in whatever I choose to do. I take great pride in myself and my work and love being able to share that with other people, but the music industry is a tough nut to crack.
Coming to an End:
I don’t want to end this post on a melancholy note (ha!), so I leave you with this:
Live every day like you mean it.
There’s (no) room for error
You must face your own terror
Own who you are with pride.
Xander Salsitz 2023
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