UC Berkeley alumnus, Michael Bishop, wishes current Cal students a happy Dead Week! Finals and graduation are approaching, so Michael conveys an encouraging message in the hopes of putting students at ease and helping us feel a little less pressure throughout this stressful time. During this crucial time of transition and change, Michael Bishop, gives a refreshing account of his own experiences growing up and transitioning to and from Cal.
Michael Bishop, on his experiences and advice to current, incoming, transfer, and graduating students:
I was born in Davenport, Iowa to a family involved with the performing arts. My developmental years from age three to six were spent touring the country with my family while they were performing in Broadway touring shows. I was then raised in Burbank, California so our family could be closer to auditions for television and acting. After a couple of years of childhood acting, I stopped around middle school to enjoy a more normal life of an adolescent. In high school, much of my time and energy was spent singing and dancing in one of the best showchoir programs in the country. In the summer, I helped my parents in their non-profit performing arts camp for children.
Academically, I always gravitated towards the social sciences and humanities. For a high school student, I was a big history buff and politico. And as fate or luck would have it, I was back in the midwest visiting family in 2008 and was able to contribute in the Iowa caucuses for Barack Obama. Despite my passion for learning, I lacked a passion for the busy work that keeps your grades afloat in high school. I also lacked the financial ability to go to a four-year college out of the gate. Therefore, I ended up at Pasadena Community College (PCC) for two years. It was a blessing in disguise as it gave me time to mature, while saving me the headache of enormous student debt. While at PCC, I was very involved in the student government and I was very academically driven as I had my sights set on transferring to Berkeley as a political science major. I hadn’t even visited Berkeley before but I was drawn to this historical place where intellectuals and academics were valued and where the counter-culture and free speech movement flourished.
My overall experience at Berkeley ended up being a mixed bag. Being a transfer student, I felt like I did miss out on valuable time connecting to the campus and to other students. Academically, I was very prepared and took something valuable out of most of my classes. Socially, I was very grateful I decided to dorm my first transfer year because it allowed me the opportunity to meet some of my very best friends. Like me, they had some unusual life experiences and came from all different walks of life.
After graduating with a political science degree, emphasis in international relations, in 2012, I moved back to Southern California. Like many grads nowadays, I was in a state of limbo stuck in between a lackluster job market and a still ever-present uncertainty of what I truly wanted to do. Then I realized the way our society teaches us to think about our future is totally distorted. Especially as Berkeley students, we have always been exhorted as the leaders of our generation, befitted with all the accompanying expectations and pressures. It wasn’t until I stopped asking myself, “What type of career do you want?” and started asking myself, “What makes you happy?” that I was able to find some clarity.
Since then I have returned to performing arts and pursuing a life on stage. I make my money for the day to day by working at a brewery part time, which is nice because I love beer. With my flexible schedule I strive to travel as much as possible and I never turn down a good music festival. My time at Berkeley was never a means to an end type of deal. I went for the experience and for the growth, and that’s how I plan to live my life. As for all the Berkeley students out there, I have no doubt all of you are capable of great things and many of you will accomplish them. But never forget to do the things that make you truly happy in this world.