Student Blog: What to do with 525,600 minutes

Sitting in my dorm in Los Angeles, California, I’m feeling nothing but new, and it is the most exhilarating feeling. Until 2025 I had never understood how long a year truly was. By mid-summer, I noticed how much I had changed from the year prior and how much was going to change a year into the future. There would have been no way to predict the path that I have taken. 

365 days prior, I was fresh out of high school, excited to start my journey as a pre-med student at Boston University. Flash forward 365 days, and I will have completed my first year as a Public Relations and Advertising student at the University of Southern California with only a year left of college. It’s natural to think of life in year-long periods, especially as we grow older and 365 days becomes a less significant portion of our lives.

What I want to emphasize, though, is that just because we combine all of these moments into a year does not mean that each year is defined by a single accomplishment. As Johnathan Larson reminded us, there are 525,600 minutes in a year. Each of those is an opportunity to start anew. To explore a different avenue. 

The hardest part? Accepting that each of these 525,600 minutes brings something new. As humans, I think we tend to favor activities or hobbies that we know we can succeed in. Who wants to be bad at something? It is this mindset, however, that keeps us from achieving our full potential. We have to be willing to be new in order to learn what we are great at. 

That lesson is one that I continue to be reminded of as I mature through college. During the second semester of my freshman year, I accepted that I would be new to the public relations major. I was so anxious to submit my first assignment because I wasn’t as familiar with this type of homework. Instead of solving half-reaction for chemistry, I was brainstorming a strategic communications plan for Blank Street Coffee. These were polar opposites in my mind, and I felt like a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time. 

But like a baby giraffe, I eventually found my footing and started to walk. And then run. The following fall, I was fully immersed into the public relations world at a brand new school across the country. Just when I thought I hit my maximum “newness,” I found myself trying just one more activity. Musical theatre.

I have loved musicals since 2017 when I watched School of Rock. The connection between the actors, the story, and the audience is unparalleled. Since then, I was only an audience member. When I saw the opportunity to step onto the stage, I took the leap. I joined a musical theatre group, and it was the best decision I could’ve made. Not only did it push me out of my comfort zone, but I also made some great friends. 

Performing under the spotlights was nerve wracking. I hadn’t performed on a stage in seven years, and I had never performed in a musical theatre setting before. Nonetheless, I got up on that stage with my friends and performed to a sold out theatre. 

Now, I’ve been exploring what the intersection between theatre and public relations looks like and how I can be a part of making change. The small decision to be new at something but still give it my all single handedly changed the trajectory of my life. I’m not sure where I’ll be a year from now, but at least I can say that I tried something new. 

It is the new things that keep life exciting. The inability to do everything that the world has to offer is what motivates me. With 525,600 minutes in a year, I like to challenge myself to see how much I can fit into that time frame. Whether it’s watching a new show or picking up a new hobby, being new has yet to let me down. The worst that has happened is that I find something I don’t enjoy. The beauty of it is that I don’t have to do it again. You can keep trying until you find something that resonates. Take the opportunities of being new as a chance to experiment and explore what could be possible.