Inspiring friend
Over the twenty two years I have lived, I have encountered many people. Many of them have been inspiring to me in various aspects. Some inspire me with their persistence, other with creativity, or with the quality of their work among multiple different things. There is one person that has been inspiring to me in particular; my good friend Robert Dudzic. He holds one of the craziest stories of success I have heard.
I met Robert over 7 years ago when I was 15. At first, his personality pushed me away. I didn’t really want to get to know him better. To me, it seemed that he was extremely stuck on his beliefs to a point were you could not convince him about anything even if you knew he was wrong. It felt like when you are around him, he would look down on you. Without any exceptions he would treat everybody like this. My entire perception of who he was changed when he started to tell us his life story. His behavior also changed in the moment. He seemed more anxious yet proud.
Robert just like myself, was born in Poland. Ever since he was very young he wanted to produce music and professionally play drums. When he was young he believed that he could achieve his goals by graduating from a music school. However, within the first year he was kicked out of the University with hurtful words from one of his professors “ You should not have anything to do with music production or music itself.” Robert was heartbroken.
He made a decision to fly to the USA and try his best in the music industry. When he landed he already had $400 debt. In the beginning he would work low paid jobs in cleaning and selling fresh produce. Every penny he earned he spent on music equipment and education. After 14 years of hard work he managed to get good enough at music production and finally built his dream around his skills. Today he makes music for living and does sound design for major motion pictures.
Whenever I get a chance to spend time with him I always leave inspired, full of ideas and motivation. He works very hard and the outcome is extremely inspirational. Whenever he plays to me what he has been working on, I get encouraged to be better my self and work harder. I always find it refreshing to talk about the music industry with him. I always learn more and it feels great to chat with somebody who is as passionate about the music industry as I am.
Robert has worked on so much for so long and even though he has been through extremely hard times, he never gave up on working to achieve his dream. For me he is the ultimate proof that if you have a dream, you should chase it, and not give up if things don’t go your way. Many times people will tell you that you can’t do something, but that shouldn’t hold you back. We shouldn't stop trying to be where we want to be even if people you respect say that they know better, and that you don’t belong where you feel you do. Nowadays, Robert lives in Connecticut. Everyday he works on creating pieces that people told him he would never be able to do.
