This article was published on the website for The Skidmo’ Daily, Skidmore College’s only intentionally satirical newspaper.
As this year’s sophomores enter spring semester, they face the decision of which majors to declare. While this choice can determine their academic and even career paths, few anticipate the surprising difficulty of choosing their minors. To help some students with their decision-making, here’s a story about how sophomore Angelica Henry chose her music minor:
Last spring, Angelica declared a Biology major, because she wants to work in a lab after college. Still, Angelica has always been drawn to the artsier side of campus. “Earlier in the semester, I saw this girl playing a ukulele on Case green. She had silver hair and a septum piercing. It was a breathtaking sight,” Angelica told Skidmo’. “She was playing ‘Skinny Love,’ which is a song not many people know. I know it, though, and her performance was mesmerizing.”
Angelica explained that her parents would kick her out of the house if she ever dyed her hair or got a facial piercing, but she knew she could convince them to get her a reasonably priced ukulele she found on Etsy.
It took some persuading; “My father was sure I would drop out of school and move to Woodstock or something.” But he eventually caved and bought her a plastic soprano ukulele—just the one she wanted. It was pastel pink and had come with a sticker featuring a blue heart with the word UGH in pink bubble letters. “I cried when I opened it,” Angelica said. “I suddenly felt inspired to browse through Ukutabs.com for all my favorite artists—Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, Lorde—and learn how to play all their songs. Luckily, I only needed to learn A minor, C, D, and G.”
As Angelica grew more confident in her playing, she began to record Instagram videos of herself singing covers while playing her ukulele. Her friends commented things like, “omg i didnt kno u were so musical!!!” and “my bff is so talented <3”. It was then that Angelica realized she could not let her talent go to waste; she had to become a music minor. “I haven’t taken my first music class yet, but I’ve been watching a lot of tutorials on YouTube. Now, I can play five chords,” Angelica told Skidmo’.
She decided to seal the deal in a meeting with her adviser, a biology professor. He had no idea if she had any musical talent or knowledge, but Angelica convinced him that the 100 Instagram likes on her videos were enough of an indicator. She offered to play him a song too, but he declined and just signed the papers, making it official.
Angelica cannot wait to get started with her music minor, that is if she doesn’t transfer to Berklee first.
