NEWS4U OCTOBER 2021 | OPINION
WHEN LATE NIGHT THOUGHTS ARE
BOURNE
with Freddie Bourne
Your master’s degree doesn’t give you permission to be a jerk I think it goes without saying that your credentials don’t
people that kept me going when they very well could have written me off. I like to think that I've grown up since then, no longer acting like I'm bigger than I am.
make up who you are. Sure, maybe it makes up the amount of money you can potentially make. Or more likely, money
Mind you, I don’t disagree with the “fake it till you make it”
lost due to incurring debt and overconfidence. To each their
mentality. But I don’t agree with being completely fake all
own.
together. I see this a lot in the local art scene here - people posting events like they are selling out arenas and putting
I notice that many people still claim entitlement due to their
out records like they are U2. It’s an accomplishment, no
status, popularity or the amount of success that they have -
doubt. But what are you trying to prove?
the amount of accomplishments they can list on a resume, followed by a laundry list of people they know to impress
Is there an overarching conclusion you’re trying to reach,
bystanders.
to “show them” when you don’t know who “they” are? How about try being you - without the excess crap. Face value
And for what? I’ve been guilty of this and I’m ashamed of it.
with emotions, fears, and genuine connection.
In high school, I always planned on going off to college but my best friends weren’t that inclined. When I had thoughts
By the way, my friends that my mother was concerned about
of laying low after senior year, my mother enforced this
now own houses, two cars each, and make close to $100,000
mentality that I was “going places” while my friends were not.
a year with no college degrees. And yet, I didn’t know that
I didn’t truly believe it. But I acted like it. A lot.
information until I asked them - they never shoved it in my in my car that I’m barely going to make the monthly payment
come home for college breaks because I started believing
on because I love take-out sushi too much to watch my
in the lie that I was better than them.
finances responsibly.
When my mom passed, the people that she loved but
Sorry, mom. You weren’t always right.
thought that I was “better than” in terms of success are the
52 | OCTOBER 2021
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PHOTO: EMILY PELSTON
face. Meanwhile, I am typing this column for a free magazine I ended up dismissing my friends’ growth when I would
