LongIslandYid

Hey there, Long Island Yid here—here’s something I wish I’d known when I was younger: chasing big dreams—like becoming a rockstar, actor, state senator, or opening your own restaurant—is awesome, but you’ve got to anchor those dreams with skills and credentials. Not to hinder your drive, but to keep you from starting at square one if life pivots or your heart shifts to a new path. In this blog post, I hope to show you why this matters, especially for teens and young adults, though it is applicable to anyone of any age.

When someone shares their dream of “making it big,” like becoming a famous actor or musician, I’ve heard two typical responses over the years: a) the all-in, go-getting, stop-at-nothing mindset that views anything outside of the pursuit itself as a distraction, and b) the naysayers, skeptics, and Negative Nancies who think becoming anything other than a doctor or a lawyer is a waste of time. I’m here to make the case for a third option: c) pursuing your dream with pragmatism and prudence. What do I mean? It’s okay to dream big—I haven’t stopped dreaming big since I wanted to be a professional duelist from the hit show and card game Yu-Gi-Oh! at age eight. But it’s equally important to chase those dreams in a way that allows for smooth adaptation should the path shift. Maybe you realize your dream isn’t physically attainable (like not being good enough at Duel Monsters to become a pro), or it no longer aligns with your aims and upward aspirations at any particular point in time. To explain, I’ll share some personal and anecdotal experiences—including opportunities I missed due to my unbridled ambitions.

I didn’t try in school. I couldn’t be bothered. Starting in high school, the only things that mattered were the punk and metal bands I was involved with. Caving to my family and friends’ insistence, I enrolled in community college three times—and dropped out three times. As I wrote in a previous post, I worked in food service for five years, then retail for a couple more, passing through like a tumbleweed, focused solely on music. I refused to learn skills beyond the bare minimum, whether in food service, the music industry, or anything else, seeing it as beneath an aspiring rockstar. That was a tremendous mistake.

By the time I started at SAE Institute Miami in 2019, I was no longer involved in my old musical projects. My plan was to learn audio production, produce my own music, and make money doing it for others. One day, it hit me: I’d spent thousands on recordings, mixing, and mastering for my bands over the years. If I’d gone to SAE earlier, during my punk and metal days, I could’ve saved that cash and profited by bringing others’ musical visions to life. When COVID hit halfway through my time at SAE, the uncertainty in the air depressed me. I went months without touching a guitar or singing—the longest break in nine years. I ultimately finished my certificate, even winning the top post-production project, which boosted my confidence greatly. But jobs paying enough for rent and groceries were scarce at the time, so I moved back to New York for a completely different gig.

In my first post, I mentioned seeing an old SAE classmate thriving as an auto mechanic while I was getting my car checked before driving from South Florida to Queens. I’d already been contemplating other career options, like teaching or nursing, and seeing him was the icing on the cake. I came to realize that music, while beautiful and powerful, wasn’t the dream I once thought it was for me. Years prior, I’d dreamed of becoming a mental health professional, but I’d banished that idea to the darkest corridor of my mind after years of poor academic performances. It wasn’t until later, with the help of my then-fiancée, that I realized my true calling.

I’ve written about the importance of skilled trades and their impact on people’s lives—not to mention the alarming stat, often cited by Mike Rowe, that for every five tradesmen who retire, only two replace them (Rowe, 2025). This includes not just plumbers and welders but also police officers and firefighters. But blue-collar work isn’t for everyone, and that’s fine. If you want to be a big-shot politician, businessman, entertainer, or public intellectual, go for it! If your intentions are pure, I support you doubly. But tastes change, opinions change, and lives change. What you want at 17 might not be what you want at 27. I went back to college full-time at 28, I’m 30 now, and I probably won’t have a counseling license for a few more years. If I’d pursued something like SAE right out of high school, between the money I’d have saved and earned, I’d have been in a much better starting position than when I restarted college. I could’ve sustained myself, maybe built a business or capital, and transitioned careers fluidly if needed. Instead, I drifted from place to place, chasing a life of luxury like a heroin addict chasing that first high.

The key is to arm yourself with skills and credentials that support your dream and provide a fallback if things change. I have a friend who was a security guard for years, miserable because he wanted to be a police officer instead. Rather than giving up after multiple failed attempts, he gained experience in a related field, studied, and learned from others. Now, he’s a court officer, living his dream. My former bandmate, the most talented guy in our group, is another example. He’s touring with a moderately successful band, but he isn’t just waiting for the band to “explode”. He learned to be an instrument technician and studio engineer, working with big-time names in music while pursuing his band for the love of it. Lastly, I know someone who landed a job with a billionaire because of an obscure credential that she thought was pointless at the time. That precautionary step became a career highlight. In each case, these folks went against the grain, ensuring their career paths were smoother than they would’ve been without those skills.

This isn’t about playing it safe or crushing ambition. On the contrary, I’m challenging you to pursue your dreams smartly, saving yourself the stress I still feel to this very day. The Children of Israel wandered the desert for decades, never quite sure of the direction they were going in. As it says in Numbers 33:1-2, “These are the journeys of the children of Israel… according to their journeys at the bidding of Hashem.” They might’ve stayed in one place for any duration, long or short, only to be told to pack up and move at a moment’s notice. It’s a great picture of how our paths can change any second. Just when we feel comfortable—intellectually or otherwise—an epiphany might tell us it’s time to move on. We’re still heading to the promised land, but the route may need adjusting to get there in the most ideal fashion imaginable.

By arming yourself with knowledge and skills—blue-collar, white-collar, or anything in between—you’re set for a smoother transition when life throws a curveball your way. Maybe you’re a teen dreaming of Hollywood or a young adult eyeing a political career. Awesome—go for it. Take a page from my bandmate: learn a skill that complements your goal, like video editing for acting or public speaking for politics. Or follow my SAE classmate’s lead and pick up a trade to keep you afloat, no matter the cultural climate. If your dream shifts or doesn’t pan out, those skills and credentials are your lifeline, ensuring you’re not left empty-handed.

Here’s my call to action: reflect on your dream today. What’s one skill or credential you can start building now to support it? Maybe it’s learning a trade for steady work between jobs, audio engineering to save your band money and earn some, or studying policy for your upcoming senate run. Write it down, say it out loud, and take that first step. Life will throw changes at you—new passions, setbacks, or moments of clarity. Arm yourself with skills, and you’ll be ready to adapt, just like the Israelites trusted Hashem’s plan in the desert, ready to pack up and change course at a moment’s notice.

Don’t forget to support our pilot event for Purpose & Skills Center: A Place to Find Meaning and Learn Craft by referring us to a tradesman/tradeswoman, mental health professional, or anyone who might be interested in joining our mission. You can also donate to our GoFundMe page, or simply share us around!

GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/1548ccc9

Facebook: @ LIYid & @ Purpose & Skills Center

X: @ LongIslandYid & @ PurposeNSkills

IG: @ PurposeNSkills

References

Rowe, M. (Host). (2025). The way I heard it [Audio podcast]. MRW Productions, LLC. https://mikerowe.com/podcast/