A decade ago Dr. Kathryn Metz was in the same place as the cap-and-gown clad students arranged row after
row before her in Bowling Green State University’s Anderson Arena Saturday afternoon.
Back then she had just completed her studies in the College of Musical Arts. She’d had a varied career
during her time on campus majoring in world music, including travel to Indonesia and Ghana, studying
Spanish, blowing glass, and paying for it all with a variety of jobs, including clerking at Finders.
And Metz had no idea what further adventures lay ahead. She ended up in the Amazon, deep in the rain
forest where even the simplest task of getting water was a labor. From there she moved to the more
settled area of Iquitos, Peru where she helped direct the orchestra at an all-girls school and taught
sex education.
She’s also earned a Ph.D. in that period and now works at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in
Cleveland where she wrangles stars such as Slash and Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC and teaches inner city
elementary students.
None of this seemed the conventional career path. "After a time I decided to redefine normal,"
she said. And that "opened my eyes to what I really wanted to do… connect art with social
justice."
Metz urged the graduates from the College of Musical Arts and the College for Education and Human
Development to stretch themselves, discover skills they never knew they had, to find unusual endeavors
in which they could thrive in unforeseen ways.
"Think way, way, way outside the box," she said. "Let the box be a tiny speck of
dust."
Flexibility is vital, Metz said. Creativity is a must.
"You’re walking into a world into a world that’s tougher than ever," she said. Still "you
don’t have to start contributing to an IRA today."
"Engage your community," Metz told them. The options are vast – working Story Corps, helping
revitalize Detroit, travel to the Amazon. The website idealist.org offers many such opportunities.
"You’ll surprise yourself at what you excel at," she concluded. And years later, they may
return to campus with stories of their own adventures.