When I was a kid growing up in a sprawling urban area of Texas, I remember pondering the idea of college. Whether I would pursue a degree, what kind of degree I would like and how that would play into the career choices I would make post high school. I had the privilege of attending college, even if that meant I had to work my way through the majority of my education and take longer than most traditional full time students. I understand that not everyone has the option to select college after high school, so I am thankful for the experience I had. (Full disclosure; I graduated from Houston Community College with an Associates degree before completing my Bachelor’s at The University of Houston.)

As one might expect after watching an insightful show about Texas culture such as “King of The Hill” (truly, Greg Daniels and Mike Judge put together a masterpiece), you can guess that football is engrained in the culture. Specifically, college football is almost a religion to some. The cartoon character Hank Hill of the aforementioned “King of The Hill” series was once quoted about his son “If Bobby doesn’t love football, he won’t lead a fulfilling life, and then he’ll die.” So, yes, football is a pretty big deal out here.

Sports teach children many positive attributes; hand eye coordination, the value of personal performance, teamwork, etc. Football specifically can be a source of pride for a community. When I was growing up, I learned the principle of a great football rivalry through watching factions of fans of The University of Texas (UT) and Texas A&M University (TAMU) interact with one another. Right around the time that I was making my mind up on where I thought I might end up if I was going to attend college at all, I was pretty set on the burnt orange and white of UT. I knew that I wanted a degree in the Arts, so Austin seemed like a more cohesive place, at least in my mind, to challenge and develop that skill.

I bring college and football up respectively, because while there is an obvious analogy that can be made about success and having a game plan, practicality has taught me that there is more beyond what is obvious if you look for it.

In football, kids are started at an early age, developing positive habits and routines that shape them and hone their skills. As time and practice pass, just like in education, there is a pressure to continually perform as though what happens today will affect the rest of their educational career/sporting life/etc. I can lend an ear to the principle of action and reaction. I don’t know that I am so sold on keeping score on life events so sternly. Sport has the potential to develop a harsh “what have you done for me lately” outlook and expectation that can be destructive if not balanced.

Possibly because I had always associated the success of the Fightin’ Texas Aggies with College Station, the location of TAMU, I inaccurately assumed that the focus of the predominantly agriculture based University community would not carve out space for an Art driven business such as @curiouscollectionsvinylrecords . I was wrong on this one, and I am so glad that it appears that not only are maintaining their own, but thriving!

I picked the track this week using Queen’s “We Will Rock You” for a few reasons. Partly, because I feel like I have heard it at football games, the stomping of a crowd upon the dense metal bleachers shakes with every drumbeat and the thundering handclaps in unison. I also selected the song to highlight the experience that I had at the location in College Station. While I didn’t quite ever end up in Austin or College Station for a degree (Full disclosure; I graduated from Houston Community College with an Associates degree before completing my Bachelor’s at The University of Houston. Go Coogs!), sometimes game plans have to be adapted to be effective. And no decision that I made in my early teens permanently defined who I became, or at least by my accounting.

Also, special shoutout this week to Ben from Flipbin for the follow!