Maya Rawal | Not so special

The Maya Project | Let’s focus on our passions instead of making focus our passion

By Maya Rawal 09/25/14 1:20am

I’ve always been “well-rounded.” It’s a vague, somewhat complimentary way of saying that I could never stick to just one or two things. Through high school, I dabbled in everything from tennis to the school chorus to Model UN, refused to quit time-consuming activities like ballet and piano lessons and managed to sustain interest in a variety of academic subjects as well.

When college applications came around, I fervently prayed that the talk of looking for specialized students to form a well-rounded class was a rumor. I had awards and accomplishments in certain areas. But I certainly wasn’t specialized in anything, except maybe being busy. Luckily, I was able to count on Ben Franklin being a bit of a Renaissance man himself.

Then I came to college. That’s when people finally choose one field to focus on, right? There seems to be a pressure to pick one interest immediately and build your entire college career around it.

By this logic, I need to get my life together. I’m pursuing a STEM major, peppered generously with humanities electives, I dance in Penn Ballet and I participate in the South Asia Society. Oh, and I sometimes write a column for The Daily Pennsylvanian . But scattered as my passions may seem, I’ve pursued them with dedication — and I don’t think anyone should find fault with that.

There are just as many students who experiment with a few different activities until sticking with one, or decide to try something new as juniors or even seniors. I don’t understand why anyone should look down on them for that. Instead, I applaud their curiosity. This is the last time in our lives that we will have access to hundreds of free groups representing a full range of just about every possible hobby or interest. If the club you’re looking for doesn’t exist, you can start it. And by all means, audition for that a cappella group even if you’re graduating in May. Better now than not at all.

My clubs also serve as a much-needed outlet from the stress and pressures of my academic workload. When I’m fed up with trying to learn about neural networks or medieval Spain, I can seek relief in ballet rehearsal or a fun SAS event.

It’s also important to expand your horizons, and college is the perfect place to do that. Don’t be that Wharton kid concentrating in finance whose entire life revolves around starting networking groups and attending speaker presentations in Huntsman — when not busy studying in that GSR you’ve reserved for the next two weeks straight, that is.

Maybe some people out there genuinely enjoy devoting themselves solely to their business career prospects. But if you don’t, why bother? I have already gained so much from the student groups I’m in. They have exposed me to a wide variety of people with so many different ideas and interests.

That’s what makes college so special. We are thrown into an enclosed environment for four highly formative years — we construct our beliefs about the world around us as we encounter other students and professors. It simply doesn’t make sense to waste this chance to grow and learn as much as possible in order to challenge our pre-conceived notions.

We have the rest of our lives to focus on our chosen field of work. Take advantage of Penn’s opportunities now. Meet someone in a different school. Try salsa dancing or slam poetry or student government. The possibilities are almost limitless.

So to everyone who gives me a startled look when hearing my list of extracurricular activities — sure, maybe I can’t top my resume with them. Yeah, they’re probably not going to land me a cushy job on Wall Street after graduation.

But, regardless of the career path I eventually settle on, I’ll have valuable skills and lifelong friends. And you can bet I’ll be pirouetting through my lunch breaks.

Maya Rawal is a College sophomore from River Forest, Ill. Her email address is mrawal@sas.upenn.edu. "The Maya Project" appears every other Thursday.

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