I talk a lot about what it was like for me to go from being a professional “student” to a professional oboe player. Like every journey, it had its ups and downs. Often times there seemed to be more downs than ups. It’s not like we are given a map or anything to make the route a little easier.

Looking back, it was all for a reason.

Looking back, I can connect the dots between all of the ups and the downs and understand why each one needed to happen exactly as it did to bring me to where I am today.

If you are an oboist out there looking to figure out where you belong… to discover your own voice, then give this video a few minutes of your time.

It’s a Stanford commencement address given by Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Inc.) in 2005.

I remember reading this a year ago, about a week after Jobs gave it. But thanks to YouTube, now you can see the real thing.