Meet Jen Waters

We recently connected with Jen Waters and have shared our conversation below.

Jen, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Creativity helps you to have resilience, so you know there are a million ways to solve a problem, even if the solution doesn’t end up being the obvious one that everyone would expect. When I grew up at Hershey High School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, where my family attended, suggested that I study at Berklee College of Music in Boston for the summer program. So, between 11th and 12th grade, I did the Five-Week Music Performance Intensive. I was so nervous. When I flew to Boston with my mom to visit Berklee in the fall of the 11th grade, it was the first time that I had ever been on a plane. I remember eating the potato skins at TGI Friday’s in Boston with my mom, thinking, “I guess I can do this!” I had played the piano since the second grade and written my own songs since the seventh grade, taught by Ann Layser, an extended family member on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family, who has now passed away. I also had sung in chorus during middle school and high school, and I loved Music Theory class in high school, which I took during 11th and 12th grade, where we learned the different keys, chords, and scales. When I would write songs, I would handwrite the notes on the music staff on paper, note by note, with the key changes and modulations, and I wrote out by hand my Berklee College of Music admission song as well for my application, because my concentration was songwriting. So, I figured I could handle five weeks away from Hershey if I was making music. I used to lay on my bed in my bedroom and listen to music for hours. When I got my first tape player, my dad gave me cassettes for the soundtracks to GHOSTBUSTERS and FLASHDANCE. I remember loving Amy Grant’s 1983 A CHRISTMAS ALBUM. My mom would play Carole King’s TAPESTRY album through the speaker system in the house. She also liked all the Motown songs like the Temptations’ song “My Girl.” She had one boogie-woogie number that she could play on the piano.

So, when I got to Berklee, I remember that I had a roommate named Amy who liked to dye her hair red, and the dye would end up in the bathroom tub, and I would have to scrub out the red dye. We ate bagels and waffles all summer in the school cafeteria, and I even saw a baseball game at Fenway Park, where no one hit the baseball the entire game, and I was waiting for someone to hit a home run. I spent all summer in the piano rooms, playing the piano for hours. It was the first time I learned jazz chords and how to use chords out of the key. I remember that our ensemble played a song that I wrote called “Without Love,” which I sang, and the professor told me had a similar chord progression to U2 songs, and he wondered if I liked their music. I had no idea that I had used the same chord progressions to some of the songs on THE JOSHUA TREE. When the professor told me this, I remember sitting there at the piano thinking, “Wow, really?” Also, our ensemble played a song by Aretha Franklin called “Chain of Fools,” where I played the piano. When the five weeks ended, I didn’t want to go home.

So, when I started senior year of high school, all I wanted to do was play the piano all day long. My parents wanted to watch television, and I would pound on the piano as much as I could anyhow when I wasn’t studying for school. In the 12th grade, I took AP English, and I still remember everything we read. My extended family on my maternal grandmother’s side owned a bookstore called The Layser Family Bookstore and Gift Shop in Briarcrest Square in Hershey, which is now closed, but I grew up reading everything in the store. My piano teacher, Ann Layser, ran the shop, and she also sold cassettes, CDs, and sheet music. So, I tried to use literature references in the lyrics that I was writing for my songs. I used a reference to the riddle of the Sphinx from OEDIPUS REX by Sophocles in a song that I wrote called “Mortal Man,” which I saved, and later appeared on my Apple Music release WHIMSY and WHIMSY FOR TWO. Hershey is a very small town, so I spent hours in the Hershey Public Library when I was growing up, reading everything. All of this is to say that creativity in many fields gives you the ability to think differently and not be overwhelmed by life.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve been releasing my music through Pen Jen Songs on Apple Music and the other online streaming platforms, which includes my singer-songwriter releases, such as WHIMSY, WHIMSY FOR ONE, WHIMSY FOR TWO, PURITY, SIMPLICITY, and FATE. My children’s music/spoken word releases include WONDERLAND, WINTER WONDERLAND, IMPOSSIBLE THINGS, CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER, ENTIRELY BONKERS, THE GREAT PUZZLE, HANDWRITTEN, and HOOPS TIME. The spoken word releases are also featured on my Pen Jen’s Inkwell Podcast, where I talk about the inspiration for the original stories that I wrote and performed. There are more original stories, poems, and song lyrics on my blog Pen Jen’s Inkwell.

In November 2023, I released HOLIDAY MUCHNESS, a two-song EP of original Christmas music, “The Ghost of Christmas,” and “The Wreath and Candles.” “The Ghost of Christmas” was inspired by my father’s love for A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens. My parents and I once saw A CHRISTMAS CAROL performed on stage at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., where President Abraham Lincoln was shot. Growing up, he liked to watch the old black and white version of the film. He also enjoyed the rendition by George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. I think my father is scared that he will be visited by a ghost at Christmas, so he rewatches the film every year to try to keep the ghosts away. To make the song sound haunting, we bookended it with the public domain standard “Carol of the Bells.” Also, “The Wreath and Candles” was inspired by my love of sending Christmas cards. When I was young, I loved to send mail! The Wreath and Candles 4-cent stamp was the first U.S. Christmas stamp, issued in 1962, with a green wreath and two candles. I used my own version of the Postman’s Motto as the chorus. Otherwise, I have a batch of original Christmas songs, which I wrote, that I didn’t release yet. I figured that I could space them out, maybe releasing one or two a year at Christmas, like “Stardust Noel” and “The Christmas Cactus.”

In between everything else, I’ve been working on producing KISSES, a musical based on the life of Milton S. Hershey, which has about 20 songs right now, including “The Great Chocolatier” and “The Cost of Living.” I also wrote THE WHIRLWIND CHRONICLES trilogy of musicals and middle-grade fantasy novels, including THE MAGIC MUSIC BOX, THE HORSE GATE, and DREAMS OR DUST.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When I studied at Syracuse University, I attended the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Setnor School of Music at the College of Visual and Performing Arts, but I took all three of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs classes for non-political science majors, including Global Community, Critical Choices for the United States, and Quantitative Methods. In Global Community, we had to write essays on how the United States should address the issues of international trade, which involved exporting military weapons and entertainment, and preserving the environment. In Critical Choices for the United States, we had to write essays on how to solve the nation’s education crisis, as well as how to handle taxes. In Quantitative Methods, we studied the U.S. population through the U.S. Census Bureau data. With today’s political climate, those topics seem to still be major issues at hand. However, with the country becoming so divisive, I think it is important to try to be bipartisan whenever possible for the good of the nation. Everyday citizens cannot continue arguing and fighting with each other. You have to get above the insanity. If you are a political official, the first thing you should do is list off the problems, and then you have to prioritize them, and then figure out how to solve them without making current problems worse or creating new problems. Some problems maybe you cannot solve until other problems are addressed successfully. Every decision you make is like strategically moving the pieces on a chessboard or causing dominos to fall in one direction. It’s much more difficult than a layperson might think to run a country. With all the turmoil between political parties and during elections, the average citizens should remember that their everyday decisions do matter, even if they think they are small or unknown. Everyone can do their part for the country to succeed. So, the skills of practicing patience, listening, and compassion are all important. Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

I also think that travelling helps to expand your life experiences. I took the train around Europe on a backpacking trip, going from London to Paris to Lisbon to Madrid to Barcelona to Florence to Rome to Venice to Vienna to Frankfurt to Amsterdam to Luxembourg to London. I also spent a spring break in college in Switzerland and took other weekend trips to Dublin and Edinburgh. I swam with dolphins once in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, and rode on the back of a horse through the ocean in Jamaica. I also visited the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Key West, Puerto Rico, Antigua, and Montserrat.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I like to go on walks and pray when I feel overwhelmed. It gives you the ability to put things into perspective. During the day, I also like to walk around singing to myself. Exercise helps a lot. I try to use the elliptical trainer every day, and sometimes the rower or stationary bike. Turning off the television and the constant bad news helps to boost your positivity. If you can turn off the news, then you can get your own thoughts back. I like listening to the ocean waves. They are therapeutic and have a nice cadence. I also like to take my vitamins, eat healthy, get massages, use the infrared sauna, and take Epsom salt baths.

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Image Credits
Alan Weissman

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