HOW I BECAME A CAMPUS DIVA
Christina Varga
Globe and Mail
October 23, 2008
Canada
Opera star Isabel Bayrakdarian recalls her undergrad struggles
balancing a tough engineering program with her true passion in life
I was always good at math and sciences, ever since I was very
little. It was just a natural fit that I would go into something
that a) provided me with scholarships and b) was something I’m
good at. I come from a family of doctors. Even my great-grandmother
was a midwife. That’s one of the reasons I decided I wanted to go
into biomedical engineering. But, I found it extremely, extremely
difficult, especially the more advanced we got in the classes and
the more I realized that my passion wasn’t really this. I must admit
that I also took it too seriously. In high school, I was very active
in music. In my community, the Armenian community, I used to sing in
church a lot. And when I entered the University [of Toronto], I said,
"No, no, no, no, this is very serious now. I have to concentrate on
my studies." And I almost cut back and cut out all my extracurricular
activities. And you know what? That made me more miserable. And in
my second semester I said, "Enough. I need some creative outlet." I
went across the street to the Royal Conservatory of Music. I said,
"I want to take singing lessons."
Finding my voice
So [in] that first year of engineering, the second semester, all
of a sudden, was lighter, happier and brighter because I had another
outlet and it wasn’t just technical things. I continued to take singing
lessons on and off for the first two years. In my third year I decided
to take a year off for an internship. In that year, I finally had a
regular timetable. I could take singing lessons regularly. And all
of a sudden my singing went to another level.
And then I realized I was bitten by the bug: I really, really,
really liked to sing. But I wasn’t sure I could do it as a living
and that was one of the reasons why I headed back to the third year
of engineering. In my fourth year…I entered the Metropolitan Opera
competition. And against all odds, I won.
What I learned
I’m happy that I took the risk because taking the path of art when
you come from engineering and the technical world is a big risk. But
I decided to take the risk for the simple reason that I didn’t want
to be 40 years old and say, "I wish I had," or "What if."
I think it must be one of the most difficult decisions that a
17-year-old or a 16-year-old has to make, about what to do in
university. …But a good start for anybody is to capitalize on what
you’re good at. If you’re miserable in university, you’re more likely
to drop out or more likely to be aimless. Always keep in mind what
you’re good at and what you like, and hopefully find something that
combines both.