When I was growing up, my father had a lot of typical “dad” expressions. When we were driving in the car, if another driver failed to yield, turned in front of him, or forgot to signal, he would say with a friendly tone, “Move over, Jake” or “Hang on there, Jake” or “Whoa there, Jake.” I always wondered how he knew so many people named Jake, and why all of them were such poor drivers.
He also had another expression that caused my young mind much pondering: “Hindsight is always 20/20,” he would often tell me. For a long time, I had no idea what he meant. When I got glasses in the third grade and found out about 20/20 vision, the expression began to take shape. And then sometime later when I learned the definition of hindsight, his meaning finally came into clear focus.
Looking back, we can often see with perfect clarity how a decision should have been made. That hindsight can be humorous, painful, or—most importantly—educational. For this University Edition, Greg Waxberg asked eight singers to share their helpful hindsight with those just embarking on their college careers (p. 42).
Rarely does anything come to an end, because one end is really the beginning of something new. Such is the case with college graduation. College is ending, but real life is beginning—hence, the graduation commencement (or beginning) address. Carol Anderson spoke with a manager, singer, and general director to find out what foresight they would offer in a commencement address to singers completing their college education and entering the real world (p. 76).
In any given moment, we teeter on the precipice of our past and our future, one side sloping to what has transpired and the other to what is to come. Tenor Andrew Lunsford stood at just such a threshold in his late 20s. Looking back, he saw his million-dollar business now a bankrupt heap of rubble. In the moment, he turned to music for solace. Suddenly looking forward, he saw glimmers of a new dream: a professional singing career, beginning with enrolling at a top university (p. 46).
Many challenges remain the same for singers today as in the past. A new generation, however, faces its own unique and challenging circumstances. Social networking sites have taken the Internet by storm. Once geared only toward college students, they have greatly expanded their reach and offer tremendous tools for staying in touch with friends and colleagues. In this information era, we also have access to infinite amounts of data at the click of a mouse. For singers, this can make role prep and research easier than ever (see Joanie Brittingham’s article on p. 50).
But are there downsides to this ever-advancing technology? Amanda Keil examines a new book that suggests that the Internet is changing the way we think, and not necessarily for the better (p. 72). With so much information coming at us so quickly, the author suggests that we are losing the ability to focus on one task for long periods of time and to think deeply about profound thoughts. Could this also impact our ability to analyze, evaluate, and learn from our past? And what kind of future will this create?
In hindsight, we often chastise ourselves for our folly and wish to go back and act differently. However, when my dad would tell me that hindsight was always 20/20, he never said it with remorse or accusation. Rather, he was teaching me to go easy on myself by realizing that we can always see after the event what we simply could not see in the moment. With no way to go back in time, the choice is clear: to turn hindsight into new and improved foresight.
