You know the scene. You know the quote. You know the movie. Or…at least I hope you do. The Blues Brothers, one of my favorite films of all time. This scene, with one of my favorite lines of all time. A line which, somehow, reminds me of the crazy journey I’m about to embark on. Let me explain:
In this scene, Jake and Elwood are fleeing from the police (what else is new?). They jump into their battered car and Elwood makes, in my opinion, one of the most memorable statements in the movie:
“It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.”
As I get closer to the start of my own 106-mile journey, I find myself relating to Jake and Elwood. I’m not heading to Chicago, but my journey towards a PhD feels like 106 miles. I’ve got an ill-prepared car to help me along the way, in the form of limited knowledge of world music research. I’ve got a full tank of gas, meaning I am motivated and ready to go. I don’t smoke but I have half a pack of cigarettes- some of the tools I’ll need for success, but certainly not all of them. It’s dark; I can’t quite see what’s on the road ahead, but I’m driving towards it anyway. And of course I’m wearing sunglasses, blinders which serve both to help me keep my cool and to mask some of the unpleasant realities of NYC scholarly life I’m not ready to face: Getting sick of reading textbooks, rats in my apartment, getting lost, not playing vibes as much as I want…I hope these aren’t in my future but if they are, I don’t want to see them yet.
So that’s that. Jake and Elwood escaped the cops and got the band back together, and I’ll get my PhD and enjoy the ride. It’s almost June. Soon I’ll be living in a tiny NYC apartment preparing for the first day of class, and before I know it those 106 miles will have come and gone and I’ll be walking across the stage on graduation day. The Blues Brothers achieved their goals and so will I. As Jake Blues would say: “Hit it.”
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