Classmates

Trying To Put Down Music Tracks In New York City
By Hillary Trautmann

Cara Schweikert dreams of being a bigwig in the music business, and New York City is probably the best place for her.

“I am a Communication Arts major, and I want to do music management. You know, work for a major record label. I would love to work for Universal, scouting, signing promising new artists and promoting new artists that are signed to the label,” Schweikert says. “Oh, and to be more in depth, I want to primarily work with hip hop and R&B music, because that’s what I love.”

Overall, Schweikert appears to be on the right track for her future. When asked what her proudest moment in her life so far has been she said, “moving to New York.” But living in New York and working in the music industry is not all she hopes her future to hold.

“I want to be successful in what I hope and plan to do in the music business. I never want to depend on a man for money, or anything for that matter! I want to be independent, but I do hope to one day own my own home, get married, and when I feel like I’ve accomplished everything I’ve wanted to do, I hope to have kids of my own.”

Cara Mary Schweikert was born to Dawn and Paul Schweikert on September 1, 1983, in Cleveland, Ohio. She grew up in Cleveland, in a typical middle class suburban neighborhood, which she describes as, “quiet, without much to do.” No wonder she dreamed of living in The Big Apple all of her life, and now for the past four years she has.

Schweikert says, “I always have and still feel as if my parents will never understand me. They are both convinced I’m crazy for wanting to live in New York and never believed I would stay here, but now I have been here for four years, and they are still living in Ohio.”

This is not to say that Schweikert has a bad relationship with her parents, but merely that in most parent/child relationships there is always some gap in understanding each other. She does describe her mother as “caring and supportive”, and her father as having “a great sense of humor, and laid back,” yet also describes both of her parents as introverts.

This could be why as a child Schweikert was very shy and attached to her mother’s hip. Even now as an adult she describes herself as, being shy, “until I feel people out, then I am very outgoing and talkative.”

With such a large family, an older brother and sister, and a younger brother, it is no wonder her parents may think she is crazy for moving so far away for school, when her three siblings are still home in Ohio.

So what if Schweikert’s plans don’t work out as she has hoped? Will she then be unhappy? Definitely not. Schweikert believes that everything happens for a reason. “You cannot reflect on the bad situations that are dealt to you. Sooner or later you wind up realizing that the bad situations you may have been dealt are what make you stronger person. Really they make you who are.”

Maybe the reason Schweikert believes so strongly in dealing with what you’ve been given is because she grew up as a believer in the Catholic faith. As a child she attended church regularly, but now has realized that with a busy New York lifestyle it is hard to attend anything regularly. Yet, she still has a strong faith in the religion she was brought up believing in.

“I still have a strong faith in God, and I think God plays a major role in the things that take place in our lives. I think God plays a major role in certain things that have happened to myself and people in my life.”

With an attitude like Schweikert’s it will be hard to keep her down. It seems that she will make her life the way she has always dreamed it to be. She’s already half way there, but even if it doesn’t work out as she has planned, it seems that she believes it will work out for the best nonetheless.