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Fast Facts About Alex
Age: 16
Residence: Long Island, New York
Class Year: Junior
School: Kellenberg Memorial High School
Interests: Surfing, Alternative Music, Aldous Huxley
Top Stressors: Grades, Balancing Extracurriculars, Time Management
Top Stress Relievers: Skateboarding, Running, Watching Indie Films
A Resolution of Passion
(column two in a monthly series by Alex Jordan)
 The philosophy of Campus Calm emphasizes a search for a student's passion, a field of study (whether creative or analytical) that will continuously intrigue them regardless of the awards they would receive. Their love for the subject would propel him or her further into the field.
Unfortunately, many high school and college students mistake their various interests for passions. They often pursue countless activities to build up their resume but never look for true passion in their extracurriculars. Some start to believe they have too many passions, thinking they will never be able to choose a career since they fail to discern "a true love of a subject no matter the reward" from "a resume builder that interests me." Especially in high school, it's great to try unusual activities you find interesting, but these are all ultimately in search of the something that you love. A student who's an officer of three clubs may not feel passionate towards any of those activities; however, a student immersed in one passion, like drama, who consistently strives to improve rather than overextend himself through a laundry-list of activities, would see that the love of the art, rather than the amount of mastery achieved, is the source of his happiness.
Cal Newport, creator of the student-success blog "StudyHacks," recently wrote an article titled "Are passions serendipitously discovered or painstakingly constructed?" Stating that a passion includes a desire to return to the work day after day and that a person aligned with their passion will lead a much happier life, Cal refutes the common notion of randomly pursuing endeavors, while increasing one's skill at them, forms a passion. This is the exact notion that stresses out so many kids. They believe by training themselves to get better at several unrelated activities, joining clubs arbitrarily and working to improve a resume, will lead to their various passions. If they analyzed all their extracurriculars, choosing the ones they absolutely loved could help to narrow it down.
Please don't misunderstand me, I currently am torn between my love of writing and biology, but I could easily see myself propelled to work throughout my life in both these fields. As high school and college continues, I hope to focus on which one I would more happily spend my life pursuing. But I'm not just focusing on biology because I do well in the class; I love the subject matter. That's the difference between what Cal calls a "mastery-centric" view of passion and a view focused on a person's love of the subject.
Aim for the one field you would love to do everyday, that one thing that captures and leaves you solely in the present. Cal emphasizes that passion does not come from a field where your mastery continuously earns you awards but on a field where you're determined to always outperform yourself, ignoring instant gratification.
Or as Cal notes, "I submit that this concept is liberating. It frees you from obsession over whether you are doing the 'right' thing with your life." Seeing passion merely as a means to master something, never recognizing if you love it, leads students to overload their activities, ultimately leading to stress and confusion.
As 2010 begins, I recommend all students to make this New Year's resolution: to focus on activities you absolutely love to do and continue to immerse yourself in those fields. Don't worry if it takes you more than a year to figure out what you love, it only matters that you've guided your mind in the right direction.
Good luck everyone!
Check out Cal's blog here; the article referenced in this column can be found here.
With my campus calm e-mail address, alex@campuscalm.com, I open up my inbox for all stressed out and worried college and high school students, especially any guys, who feel like they have no one to talk to. Good luck everyone!
© 2009-2010 Maria L. Pascucci /Campus Calm.
About the author:
Maria Pascucci is the President of Campus Calm –
the international online-community for today's stressed-out students, and
their parents and educators. Download your Stress-Less Kit with 4 FREE
gifts at www.campuscalm.com.
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