A Rock Star Outside of the Music Industry

I was listening to WILK-FM’s Morning News with Webster and Nancy recently when they started discussing corporate lingo and how they pretty much despised it. They used terms like “paradigm shift,” “win-win,” and “metrics” to name a few, and I was in total agreement.

My only disagreement came when Nancy Kman noted that she didn’t like the term “rock star” used anywhere except the music industry.

Sometimes, people go beyond their programming and change the way their game of choice is played. In their field, they can become rock stars and develop a following that others in the game try to emulate.

In fact, there are more legitimate rock stars these days outside of music than the computer-generated, capital-driven, music scene.

Should Kman need further proof of rock stars outside of music, I offer my son Julian as Exhibit A.

In second grade, due to a speech deficit, Julian couldn’t even correctly pronounce his own name. Last week, however, he played the lead role of “The Boy” in his school’s performance of The Polar Express.

I realize that everybody thinks his or her own kid is exceptional. Facebook is living proof of that.

However, with a foot firmly planted on the Autism spectrum, Julian had a lot to overcome throughout his scholastic career. Intelligence was never a problem, but getting him to apply it correctly took some work.

Between speech therapy, occupational therapy, learning support, and the dedicated teachers of the North Pocono School District, Julian is doing well inside and outside of the classroom. I have always been nervous about his social interactions, but watching him walk around before and after the play put my mind at ease.

He talked to former teachers who came to see him perform, and I don’t think there was a kid near his age who didn’t know who he was. Rock stars have a following, after all.

Julian spent the entire football season performing in front of hundreds of people, but being alone on stage in front of the same-sized crowd, he had me nervous for him. But I worried for nothing.

From the confidence he exuded from his first line, I knew he was going to be fine. In fact, he was better than fine. He excelled.

As a kid who never performed on a stage in his life, he looked like he had been up there from birth. He also did it with very little help from his parents. We ran through his lines with him twice, and it was more for our peace of mind than it was for his.

Julian proved to me that he could do absolutely anything that he sets his mind to. He wants to be a special education teacher, and when the time comes, I can’t think of a better person for such a job.

Being on the spectrum gives him experience you just can’t teach. I’m convinced he can go as far as he wants.

Rock on, rock star. Rock on.

Jay Sochoka, RPh, is not a rock star.