So cliche, right? Everyone says to "do what you love"--until that means that someone who loves the arts wants to go into them or someone who wants to be a teacher in some small country across the earth follows that dream. We are quick to place so many judgments in the academic world, and I am just as guilty as the next person. This blog post isn't about how much the arts matter and how those degrees are just as valid as math and science--though they are. It is about how yesterday when I was sitting in one of my honors courses, I totally understood what passion was.
I never understood how anyone could major in something math-y or science-y unless it was for money purposes. "How could anyone actually love doing that kind of awful stuff?" thought my arts inclined brain. In class yesterday we were discussing what it means for my university to be a "Research-1 University," so of course, I was prepared for a discussion completely irrelevant for me--the one fine arts major in a room full of "normal" honors students--math and science majors. And, to some extent, it was pretty irrelevant. Odds are, I won't do much, if any, undergraduate research--it doesn't help me get to where I want to go. However, one of my professors was talking about her neuroscience research and she was telling a story: One night, she and another lady were doing research at one in the morning, and the lady turned to her and exclaimed, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I GET PAID TO DO THIS!!!!!!!" That hit me. That's how people in the arts feel. That's how I hope to feel.
In that moment, it clicked. People are just as passionate about biology and chemistry and political science as I am about the arts. Now, there are people who go into that kind of stuff because it is "the smart thing to do" or because the jobs pay well. However, my professor's eyes lit up with that light that is only present when someone is really passionate about what they are talking about. Neuroscience research sets a fire within her, just like the arts do for me.
Maybe I didn't learn anything relevant to my major, career, or time at college. But I did learn something about life. We all have different passions, and maybe your passions make me want to bang my head against a wall, but the passion it sets within our hearts is the same. It helps us grow and serve the world. That is crazy cool. So, HEY YOU...DO WHAT YOU LOVE!
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