Breaking Out of The Herd

I will begin with an observation I have long thought of: Silicon Valley is like the modern version of ancient Athens, the forefront of innovation and culture. This region, so fertile with brilliant minds and unwavering drive, has been the birthplace of countless world-changing innovations. Unsurprisingly, bay area students are often left with no choice but to be comfortable and wrestle with the most cutting edge trends — ranging from blockchain, fintech, machine learning, and countless more. 

When I was a student in the bay area not so long ago, I also fell into the mindset that I needed to be STEM-oriented and have extensive computer science skills to be competitive with my peers. From an early age, I participated in my fair share of computer science summer camps, and I felt an extensive pressure to join and thrive in numerous activities related to math and science. This mindset was only reinforced by my peers who had similar pressures -- and these pressures were especially exacerbated by the fact that most of our parents were all engineers or working at a technology company.

However, by the time I got to high school, it became pretty clear to me that I had very little interest in STEM subjects. Rather, I began to develop a greater appreciation for literature, philosophy, and history -- I also began to become more interested in social sciences like economics and psychology. These natural affinities toward the humanities and social sciences were a surprise to me as I always thought that I’d have similar academic interests as my father who was an engineer. 

Looking back, at a certain point, I had to make a conscious decision to stray away from the well paved path of STEM achievement and wander into the unknowns of finding my own path. While others were joining Math Olympiad and Science Bowl, I joined History Bowl; when my peers took AP Physics and enrolled in Linear Algebra at local community colleges, I took AP European History and took philosophy classes outside of school; when my friends attended prestigious STEM summer programs or found research opportunities at top universities, I volunteered at a local history museum and spent time reading history books (or spending hours watching history documentaries). These decisions didn’t come easy, and there were surely times when I doubted my overall direction. However, I took comfort in the fact that I was choosing to spend my time focused on what I wanted to learn and what brought me joy at the end of the day. And when all things were said and done, it all worked out for the best. 

I’m sure that the pressures that I felt in high school are more intense in the Bay Area than ever before. Though I am just one example, it is important to note that everyone is different, and that it is perfectly fine to chart your own course. College admissions or job outcomes are probabilistic determinations that we can not fully control; pursuing your own passion and doing something that makes you happy is. So go out there and explore -- and if you are fortunate enough to find something that brings you joy, then embrace it and inscribe your own path amongst the tangles of the world’s tales.

By Path Mentor D.E., alumnus of Columbia University, majored in Economics and History