Finding your passion

Dear freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors: "We can't be potential forever," a friend said to me a few weeks ago-and he was right. The hardest part about college, for many precocious 17-year-olds home away from home, is finding passion. Most Duke students have come off four high-school years of doing everything-service clubs, varsity sports, the newspaper, student government-and doing it all brilliantly.

But you can't keep it up for the rest of your life. Eventually, we all have to choose: a major, a fraternity, a career, a life. With thousands of students chasing a million different dreams, it's hard for anyone to search through it all and find a single inspiration.

So here's my advice for anyone who, like me, has ever struggled to find a life-defining passion: Don't give up. Our society, to my regret, seems to idolize a lifestyle of postmodern ennui and nihilism. (To name a few culprits: Garden State, On the Road, Radiohead.)

One of the factors contributing to that apathy, I think, is overspecialization-the tendency to jump off the boat too soon. We know we're supposed to pursue one burning passion, and the easiest way to find it is to force it. When that would-be touchstone doesn't work out, as usually happens, the apathy sets in.

Academia, and especially Duke, have unwittingly caused students to close themselves off to new opportunities. Theses, FOCUS and the whole concept of "undergraduate research" often end up pigeonholing students into a single field before they're really ready to pick. I think I limited myself, in many ways, by jumping past survey courses and taking up demanding research projects without really knowing why.

Duke has tried to remedy the situation with a focus on double majors and all things interdisciplinary-but it's a false god. When you end up chasing the course requirements for not one but two departments, you end up with even less time for electives.

Students tend to blame curriculum requirements for this crunch. But in my experience, I've gained far more by being forced to take an STS class than by taking yet another course for my major. If you treat these requirements as opportunities to explore, rather than another box to check off, you're bound to reap greatly.

If you take away one thing from this column, this is it: Take yourself seriously.

But you and I are the ones who will inherit these problems. It is your responsibility, and mine, to take care of them.

Try to be an idealist, not a cynic. As another friend pointed out, it's easier to be critical than correct.

Remember that we are all incredibly lucky to be here-to be alive and with food and clothing and shelter, let alone to be at one of the world's best universities.

Love each other. When the choice comes between mercy and justice, choose mercy.

Finally, surround yourself with inspiring people. Holing up in a room all day can't be healthy. So much of learning comes from psychological and emotional factors-things that are hard to get from a textbook.

But for God's sake, don't forget to have fun. I've been fortunate enough to spend many nights at Cosmic, parties, movies, restaurants, beaches and semi-formals instead of doing work.

I say these things out of my own faith and experience. There are many paths to happiness and success. But I really believe that if you approach all these opportunities with joy in your heart, you will love Duke. s

Andrew Gerst is a Trinity senior and managing editor of Towerview magazine.