Kate Cash is one amazing second year student. As a fellow Section D buddy and having seen her perform, I wanted to write about her for the second edition of Avant Garde – but through the process, I learned that my talented friend can teach us about the importance of following your heart, but keeping your brain fed, too, throughout the journey.
Kate has been a musician and bartender for much of her pre-Osgoode days. During her early twenties, she and her boyfriend travelled across the country with a guitar, a tent, and an old Pontiac named Maggie. She tells me that though she was always more inclined towards the visual arts, decided to try out some busking while on the road.
“I started busking for change while I was on the road; wrote a few songs that didn’t suck too bad and realized I had a knack for it,” she says too modestly of her songwriting. So far, she has played in many venues in Toronto, such as the Local, the Cameron House, and 3030 Dundas. However, she says that despite these accomplishments, “like a lot of artists, I never feel like I’ve ‘made it’ – it’s always a struggle to get better, to work on my songwriting, stretch my range, condition my tone, work on my solo performance, work on my guitar playing.” One of her goals for the near future is to get together a band and play at the Dakota Tavern.
Kate’s academic history also follows an uncommon route. Though she dropped out of school several times in high school and once before in university, she decided to continue to pursue academic studies at 25. The reason, she comments; “Figured I could use some solid instruction on technique instead of re-inventing the wheel. And I missed wrestling with political philosophy, which is something I’ve found pretty hard to do on my own. I need colleagues for that kind of thing.”
She was enrolled in the Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver just prior to moving back to Toronto. She was interested in the Fine Arts Studio program at the University of Toronto, but she did not follow through. “Half an art history class later, I said ‘fuck this noise’, dropped the class, and went back to my first love, political science. So I ended up with a Bachelor of Arts in that.”
As for applying to law school, she comically comments that brain damage was a contributor. Though admittedly it was partly by chance and whim, it was her curiosity about the field of law as well as her future plans to run for political office that led her to apply.
“I intend to run for political office someday, and if I ever have the privilege of being elected, I think legal training will be extremely helpful towards writing good policy. “
As an artist, Kate comments that she is able to approach her studies with a greater cognitive flexibility – a higher degree of plasticity of mind, to think more conceptually about the issues, rather than with the more structured, literal interpretation.
Kate had little to say about whether or not she would have done anything differently so far. She does, however, recommend to first-years and peers that taking on too many extra-curricular activities sometimes has the counterintuitive effect of diminishing the law school experience. Not only did they distract from her studies, it took away time that could have been spent on her passion for music and the visual arts.
Looking forward, Kate jokingly comments: “assuming I manage to become a lawyer, I’ll likely be another one of those day-job folk singers, hungover and exhausted at the office on Friday morning from my Thursday night gig.” Ideally, she would love to join a firm that recognizes her art and the value of artistic expression as a working professional. For instance, a career that can provide her the freedom to take off a couple of months in the summer to perform in festival tours.
“And geez, I haven’t picked up a pencil or a paintbrush in 6 years. I would dearly love to get my shit together and get back to that. Sketch my clients, maybe. Who knows?”
In hearing her story, I could only imagine how wild and colourful her past experiences were. In comparing to mine, I realize that I have many more years to go, and many more turns in the road, before I fully grasp what it is that drives me and moves me. One of the most important lessons I take away is that in reality, ‘failures’ and ‘accomplishments’ are only artificial constructs in our society. This culture too often draws fine lines between right and wrong to guide us, but we must realize that each individual should be the one to define their own standards. After all, no one knows you better than yourself.
Kate confirms this with these words of wisdom, too often said, but not too often understood. “Be brutally honest with yourself. Figure out what you’re really talented at and what you suck at; work your strengths and forget everything else.”
And in true Kate Cash fashion, she ends with this light-hearted message for us all – “relax a bit about this whole thing. In 50 years, your Crim exam probably isn’t going to matter at all. Do your best and then have a snack and go to bed.”