How many of you have a "passion"?

Applying to College
1

<p>One thing I've seen a lot on here is that, when it comes to ECs, quality is better than quantity. People seem to throw around the word "passion" a lot. How many of you on here have a distinct activity that you put most of your time into and really love? For the most part, kids in my middle school and high school do not really have a passion. There are theater kids and music kids and swimmers, but those are the kids that stand out. I've noticed that most people participate in a lot of different activities, which usually change year to year as opportunities arise. </p>

<p>My problem is, I have yet to find something I'm really passionate about. I tend to pick an activity, work hard at it and get pretty good at it, and then I get bored of it. There are activities that I stick with but I don't feel "passionate" about anything that I do. The one thing that I can think of that I truly love is helping people, which is very general and cliche. Is passion something you develop after putting a lot of time into something? I find that I'm jealous of the kids who really love their sport or would spend every day performing on stage if they could. I feel a little bit boring, and while I continue to try new things and take risks, I'm wondering if I'll ever have one main passion, or if I'll have to put a little bit of passion into everything I do. What do you all think? Had you developed one or two "passions" by high school?</p>

<p>Just to clarify, although this is in college admissions, that is mainly because passion is something discussed here often. I'm not applying to college and will not be soon. I'm looking for a passion so that I can find something to do every day that I love, not because I want to look good for college (I did post about looking for a hook-ec but I've realized that the best idea is to do what I care about).</p>

2

<p>Sounds pretty normal to me. Maybe you will appreciate another perspective if you read Cal Newports blog posts about passion and standing out.</p>

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<p>I do have a passion and I really hope that shows through my essays and college app next year to colleges. As far as finding your passion though, think about what you love. Think about something that you do a lot of. Do you absolutely love movies? Musics? Video games? News? Community Service? Politics? Debate? Tutoring? etc… and then find an activity that you can do with that interest of yours. If an activity doesn’t exist, make it exist! That shows passion.</p>

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<p>I don’t have a passion. Passion is SUCH an intense, powerful word, that I honestly cannot imagine anyone under the age of 18 genuinely having a “passion”. </p>

<p>Sure, I have things that I enjoy doing, things that I even LOVE doing. But am I “passionate”? Nope. I’m enthusiastic and determined. I have an unwavering commitment. </p>

<p>Not. Passionate.</p>

<p>And I got into some GREAT schools. I did things I wanted to do, not things I’ve been told to do. I didn’t participate in some of the faceless and impersonal activities many students on here do… (NHS? really?)</p>

<p>Maybe I sound stuck-up, but I truly think that if you do and activity without thinking of reaping the benefits, you will get so much more out of it, and you will be THAT much more impressive.</p>

<p>I’m no expert, but this is just me. This is my experience. I’m 17 years old, so maybe I’ll be written off as immature, maybe even foolish. I’m just putting in my two cents.</p>

5

<p>@noel597‌, I think it depends how you define passion. I am 18 and I think I have multiple passions.</p>

<p>For me, I would say I am lucky enough to have found 2 maybe even 3. Music, Philosophy, and Coding.</p>

<p>To be quite honest, I stumbled upon all three by complete luck and accident. One I got exposed to from my best friend (Music, listening), the other slowly developed over time and my interest took a sharp climb as I got older (Philosophy), and the other started off as playing fantasy football and has developed into a favorite activity, and I was lucky enough to have a natural talent for it (Coding).</p>

<p>I keep using words like luck, accident, and such. I think it is because you have to expose yourself to a lot, and hope for the best. No survey or person can tell you what your passion/s are, you have to go out there and find them.</p>

<p>It sounds simple and dumb, but just honestly ask yourself questions about what you enjoy doing and/or are skilled at. When you get outside of academics, passions really can be anything, so keep an open mind. It could be very general, or it could be very obscure and specific. Passion WILL NOT develop from simply working at something a lot. Once case where it appears that way is if you have a passion in skill X, but need to know skill Y to do it, which you don’t like. Once you learn Y, the transition from working mostly in Y ot mostly in X makes the passion realized in my opinion.</p>

<p>All this said, you have a ton of time, and it is VERY normal to not have a passion at this point. I would say only one in five of my friends has one, and most of those developed in the past year or two.</p>

<p>Personal advice for finding passion: Surround yourself with artistic / dedicated people. It will not only expose you to art for the former, but it will show you where other people find passion, and more importantly WHY. Passions are often about satisfying needs.</p>

<p>For me,
Music: An emotional outlet, my musical genre is very loud and emotional as a result and I have fallen in love with the genre.
Philosophy: I am a very logical person, and it helps me make sense of and critique the world in a healthy way while being productive.
Computer Science: Honing of problem solving skills, tools to make life easier. As before, I find myself very logical and I gain a lot of pleasure from mind exercise.</p>

<p>In short, expose yourself to a lot of things (directed based on your personal strengths and enjoyments), surround yourself with passionate people, keep an open mind, and don’t vigorously search. As I said, I found all 3 on accident.</p>

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<p>@PengsPhils‌ You could do any of these things for the rest of your life, non stop, and not ever EVER get bored? I, honestly, highly doubt it. I think passion for THREE things, especially, is insane. I think you’re exaggerating a STRONG interest. Maybe you love these things, but passion is intense. I simply don’t see eye to eye.</p>

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<p>@noel597‌</p>

<p>I think it is a difference of view we may not settle, but I do think I have that passion for all.</p>

<p>For music, I listen religiously and am always searching for new stuff. Of the three, this is probably the least of a passion, but it is an important part of my life.</p>

<p>For philosophy, I write my own philosophy so much that I have a running file system for my ideas, which I have compiled over the past year and a half. There are probably 100 pages of pure outlined ideas and over 100 pages of saved text conversations with friends and opponents of particular ideas.</p>

<p>For coding, I have spent entire days coding, sometimes missing meals for it going as many as 6 hours straight. All of this on my own time independent of school. I lose track of time and love getting immersed in solving a problem.</p>

<p>I understand your skepticism especially since there are multiple activities I am claiming, and I agree it is rare. That is why I believe I am so lucky. My life plan is to follow those passions though. CS as the day job, Philosophy over the course of life and completed with philosophical published work in my older years. Music throughout, but I think its more of an important thing to me than a passion.</p>

<p>Neither view is more valid than the other though. It all boils down to our definition of passion, and simply its a subjective feeling which makes it very hard to define objectively.</p>

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<p>I disagree with the sentiment that you have to be willing to “die” for your interest for it to be considered a passion</p>

9

<p>No one said you have to die for your interest for it to be considered a passion…
I’m just saying that people throw around the word passion so frivolously that it has lost all meaning.</p>