Passion by Yvette

Passion by Yvette - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

When I first began college in the fall of 2014, I entered as an undecided student. I did so because I had no specific desire to focus in any area of study, I only knew that I wanted to continue my education. It took me longer than I had previously thought to articulate my skills and interests into something that I could possibly choose to pursue a degree in. For example, I loved the concept of space and the cosmos, sure, but when considering astronomy or astrophysics as majors I realized that I neither enjoyed math and physics nor was ever particularly good at them. Adding this to the looming idea of a future “real world job”, and how what I major in may influence this greatly, I soon became frustrated at my lack of passion for any particular subject.
Panicked by my seemingly unceasing indecisiveness, over the winter break of my freshman year I performed extensive research on certain majors that interested me. I looked at starting salaries for jobs that certain majors led to, opportunities within the fields for internships and careers, overall rigor, and even the popularity of majors. Even after all of this I couldn't really get a handle on what it would be like to get a degree in those popular and lucrative majors and if in the end I would be happy with the hours and hours of work that I put in for that degree.
I couldn't understand why I didn't have a particular inclination towards any subject, and this brought me to thinking back to the small group of 12 year olds that I tutored while I was in high school. Those kids were so full of passion that they were bursting at the seams with it. One girl was such a gifted artist, even for her age, and another boy had an already more advanced understanding and love for math than I could ever comprehend. I envied them and their talent for being good at what they loved to do, for I felt like I had yet to find that yet. So I decided to think back to what I’ve always been good at and also loved in both school and in life, and the answer came to me much quicker (almost annoyingly so) then I ever thought it would: writing, seeing the world, and most importantly, learning.
Soon after this small revelation I declared my major to be anthropology with a minor in English literature. The decision to do so felt so natural it was almost shocking, and after taking a few classes in the subjects I knew that I had chosen right. I began to plan for my studies in anthropology to bring me around the world, studying different cultures, unearthing new information about human prehistory, or even working as a travel/photo journalist. This concept brought me so much happiness.
Though, here I am, a whole year later in winter break for my sophomore year in college, and I’ve recently found myself beginning to doubt my decisions and once again lack passion for something I was so sure about. After thinking about this for a short while I once again became that unsure and frustrated student that I was during my first semester of freshman year, but then I reminded myself of what I loved when I was a young with no concept of a career and a salary and any uncertainty. So here is my resolution for the new year of 2016: find the joy in what I study, get excited about what my future holds and what I’m doing to create that, and block out any uncertainty about my decisions with the reminder of a 12 year old girl with a passion for life.