Students can credit one teacher in their lifetime for being a great influence on life, but CSUN student Scott Goldbaum says that his journey is based on one of his CSUN professor’s quotes.

“My life’s goal is essentially to leave people better than when I found them,” said Goldbaum. “It’s a quote from Dr. Peter Marston, one of my communications professors.”

Goldbaum has found his outlet to affect others through his passions of music and the art communication.

“After I graduate, I see myself living in Santa Monica and pursuing my band full time,” he said. “The band truly will be my greatest investment. We plan on writing in our new rehearsal lock out in downtown Los Angeles deep into the night and touring when not doing that- some (shows) tentative and some certainties here and there.”

He said he also plans on working with the shoe company TOMS over the summer as well as continuing to teach music.

“Ultimately,  I’ d like to make a living performing throughout the world to an extensive fan base of strangers,” Goldbaum said. “I want to touch lives through the music I’ve written and performed.“
With music as a large part of Goldbaum’s life, it is no surprise that he said he spends about 50 to 60 hours a week behind his guitar.

“Our band has rehearsals four days a week,” Goldbaum said. “I’m constantly songwriting and teaching about 30 students, more or less, a week too. My Guild (guitar) has been my best friend for years. It’s the only possession that I suppose I’d feel less without.”

But as much as music plays a pivotal role in Goldbaum’s life, he said he also credits life’s rewards in communication, which is also his major.

He added that another one of his passions is mentoring.

“I am fortunate to have had incredibly far-reaching mentors throughout my life starting in middle school,” he said. “Scott Schlange, Bill Sperry and Chris Ing to name a few of the many. Now I have the opportunity to pay it forward, if you will.”

He said that his students range from 5 to 69 years old, but the mean age is 12 to 18.

“My students are going through exceptionally difficult and, above all, new experiences in their life,” he said. “Sometimes in the middle of our lesson, they allude to a crevice of their vulnerability pertaining to some sort of pain they may be passively encountering. I don’t take it lightly and try to make myself available in most capacities to be a friend and mentor to my younger colleagues.”

Goldbaum credits his family for making him the person that he is and is becoming on his journey through life with his interactions with others.

“I’m the blessed beneficiary and product of supportive parents,” Goldbaum added. “My loving family could not have set a firmer foundation and is the most important part of the home I carry with me everywhere I go. I touch it up every day now — the walls, rooms and ceiling. The foundation came long before I had any of these intrinsic architectural skills of mine, and I credit my family for the foundation.”

With his strong family foundation and mentoring under his belt, he also added that his time at CSUN, especially in the communications department, has given him a more fulfilled approach towards life.
Goldbaum said that he initially didn’ t plan on going to college and it just kind of happened.

“I went and I dug it,” he said, in reference to his first semester at Moorpark College.

“While I was there, I had a classmate insist that I take college seriously and pursue communications right off the bat,” Goldbaum said. “I didn’t know what the major was, but I figured while I was doing music I’d get a degree.”

After completing his time at Moorpark College, Goldbaum said he transferred to CSUN with a communications degree in sight and with his music in hand ready to absorb the world with the help of three CSUN professors in particular.

“Picarelli, Peck and Marston’s lectures and courses became direct applications to better my life,” he said. “It was not self-help directly, just extremely engaging and copiously composed. I’ve taken life-changing classes from these three people.”

Goldbaum went on to add that their lessons are directly applicable to his daily undertakings when it comes to his music, communication and life in general.

“I have been thoroughly equipped with the means to fulfilling my life’s purpose of leaving people better than when I found them,” he said.