Plastics- Anya Slepyan

Last Wednesday was Health and Human Services day at the Leadership Lexington Youth Program. Part of that workshop included a panel discussion by a group of scientists and doctors at the hospital, who's fields ranged from pediatric surgeon to physical therapist to virologist (that was Nate Dutch's mom!). Although they each had different perspectives on the medical field based on their profession, there was a very definite common theme in what they had to say. One piece of advise that they each gave was to follow what you're passionate about. Now this seems both obvious and cliche (and maybe it is) but that doesn't mean that it isn't right. From their perspective as doctors it only makes sense--if you're going to spend additional decades of your life furthering your education, it should be something that you genuinely care about for its own sake, not because of money or pride or parental pressure. The advise that they had was that you should only become a doctor if it is something that you are genuinely interested in, otherwise you are doomed to fail. Without  personal passion, it would be simply impossible to fulfill the requirements necessary to succeed. Of course, becoming a doctor is an extreme example because it is so ridiculously hard, but the same idea stands for basically any profession or life-path.

My parents have always encouraged me to figure out what I'm interested in, learn about it, and then figure out what to do with it, which is the opposite of many people's career-focused mindsets. Of course, this slightly less practical approach may have something to do with the fact that they are both Russian Historians, a field that has always had a minimum sort of job outlook. But I appreciate how this method compliments what all the other doctors had to say, and underlines the importance of following one's passions.