Righteous pursuit

The fall semester is quickly coming to a close. By now most of the senior class is either safe for employment or frantically applying to grad schools and jobs. Some of us are still trying to figure out what we want to do for a living. We have reached a critical point in our lives; the next steps we take can dramatically alter our personal journeys. The feeling of urgency lies mostly with seniors, but undergraduates of all classes are discerning what they should do after Duke. Put more deeply, they are discerning who they want to become. I cannot answer these questions for you, but I can impart a little senior experience to frame them.

The most common mistake I see people make is the pursuit of a career path in the name of money or material gain. At Duke this is visible in the so-called Big Four phenomenon. For those of you unaware of the career vernacular, the Big Four are: pre-law, pre-med, finance and consulting. Note that all of these are solid jobs, and ones highly valued by society. I do not take issue that so many people flock to such high-paying jobs. Money is a society’s standard of value, and what these professions do are extremely important to society. However, there are definitely people picking these jobs for the money and that’s the unfortunate part. Money is necessary for survival, but pay alone is a terrible reason to choose a career path.

Importance to society, another mistaken motive I see, is widely regarded as a nobler motive. As they say, it’s not about the money. It’s about helping others. There is nothing inherently wrong with helping others. Though I express strong disdain for government entitlements, I strongly advocate private citizens trying to make the world a better place in whatever way suits them. That being said, picking careers like research, social work or the armed forces in the name of serving society disregards the fact that many other jobs (including the Big Four) do wonders for the common good. Doctors and lawyers are more obviously important, but a strong banking system and efficient management practices are also vital to a healthy economy. Loans and other investments provide for the growth of businesses across the nation and allow people to plan their futures into retirement. Consulting firms help to maximize the productivity of existing companies (including charities and hospitals), benefiting everyone. The larger issue I take with a societal motivation is the fact that the needs and wants of others have become the validation for what you choose to do with your life. This alone is an equally terrible reason to choose a career path. Note that in saying “others,” I’m including people who aim exclusively to satisfy their parents’ wishes or cultural expectations.

When it comes down to it, there is exactly one valid motive for determining how to live your life. That motive is your own rational self-interest. You should make your career choices based upon what you believe will make you happiest in the long run. Don’t pick a big four job because it’s high-paying; pick one because the work makes you happy and because you see value in it. Don’t go for research or social service for the sake of others; go for it because you find your research fascinating or because you obtain a sense of personal fulfillment from helping others. Do it because you think it’s a good way for you to make the world a better place. No matter which path you take, you and you alone have the right to your own life.

In choosing any other motive, you will inevitably fail in one of two places. Scenario one is job failure. The fact that you’re miserable marks everything you do, and it shows in the quality of your work and in your interactions with others. Scenario two is more subtle. Everyone is happy with the work you do … except you. You wake up one day and realize that you made a terrible mistake. You let the validation of others, through money, praise or prestige, stop you from choosing the life that you wanted to live.

As I said before, I cannot tell you what path you should take. I cannot tell you because I cannot possibly know what makes you happy. You have a life, and that life is yours to live. We’re all Duke students here. We’re fairly smart people, and I firmly believe that every single student on this campus can find what makes him or her happy and pursue it righteously.

This is my last column as an opinion writer. Thank you all for reading.

(The author would like to thank John Allison IV for his “Leadership and Values” talk. It was an inspiration for this article.)