Do you enjoy being a part of scrappy organizations?
I teach in music departments – often the scrappiest part of a school. Fighting for every dollar, getting creative to solve problems.
I love vocal jazz – is one of the scrappiest contingents in the choral world – working to convince peers of its legitimacy.
I teach at a community college – which is undoubtedly the scrappiest form of higher education.
Scrappy means you’re insurgent. You don’t necessarily have the resources or institutional support of less scrappy counterparts. (Maybe the football team? Maybe traditional collegiate choral ensembles and top-50 research universities?)
But scrappy also means fewer expectations. You can surprise people. You can fly under the radar to create something new and innovative. You can create.
Scrappy comes with its own challenges, but on balance, it’s pretty nice to be scrappy.