Finding Your Combination

“When it comes to your life – personally and your community and your business – are you writing new music?”

This was the question posed to guests at the 27th annual Coca-Cola Scholars Banquet just before 2010 Coca-Cola Scholar Kai Kight took the stage.

Beginning with an original violin piece, Kai wowed the crowd with his performance and then encouraged the audience to examine the sounds they have become accustomed to in everyday life, referencing his own Scholars Weekend in April of 2010 as an example.

“I had just landed in Atlanta and finally found the person with the big red Coke Scholar’s sign. I was the first to arrive, so we waited as about 30 other Scholars joined. As each person came, the voices kept getting louder and louder. Not the voices of my peers, but the voices that were screaming in my head. Asking me if I was up to standard, if I was even supposed to be here, asking am I good enough.”

He continued his story, noting that one part of the weekend stuck forever in his mind. As he was discussing his many interests, ranging from business to the violin, his interviewer said, “Kai, we are all so excited to see what you do with your combination”.

Kai explained, “The words ‘your combination’ stuck with me because at this moment I realized that they brought me here for a reason, I had something different to offer, that my disconnected interests weren’t insignificant, but ingredients for me to create a unique recipe to offer the world.”

“Are you creating sounds for tomorrow or are you just accepting the sounds from yesterday?”

He kept these words in mind as he began to compose his own pieces with his violin, combining both classical and popular genres, and even after he graduated from Stanford and created a venture where he teaches individuals and organizations how to become innovative leaders in their lives and work and inspire people to compose a path of imagination and fulfillment.

Kai then urged the new 2015 class of Coca-Cola Scholars to stay true to what makes them special.

“You are not here to fit in by following a standard; you are here to stand out by following your own. Not here to compare yourself to the accolades of others, but to trust in that which makes you different…admire those around you but know that we are so excited to see what you will do with your own unique combination.”

Learn more about Kai at www.kaikight.com.