From Physics Major to People Major

academic advice
Nicolas Poussin   The Judgment of Solomon   WGA18330 resized 600

Choosing a college major shouldn't be a Solomonic decision. But sometimes... 

I faced a crisis once in college trying to decide what major to choose.  See, I have an eternal problem of indecisiveness, where I straddle the line and do two things, or want two entrees (dinners can get really expensive sometimes).  When it came to my majors, I couldn’t decide between neuroscience and physics.  Physics was what I really enjoyed from high school, but I would never be able to convince my mother that it was going to lead to a job.  Back then, life sciences were all the rage and she was convinced I would be homeless and jobless if I chose physics.  So, of course I ended up completing both, despite my academic advisor’s suggestion of: “What about biophysics?”  Combining the two would destroy the purity of each, of course.

The funny thing is, after all that agonizing, it turns out that what I am really passionate about are people.  Never mind that physics is stereotypically for those who have pale skin and hiss when struck by sunlight, and that I took more science classes to cover both majors than I care to think about.  This evolution started when I faced a very hard moment in graduate school, sitting in a windowless, cramped room amongst the dusty books of our program’s library, realizing that something was very wrong with the direction I had chosen.  Nevertheless, in the end my heart won out and I worked hard to put people at the center of the projects I would focus on for the next four years.  Yet of course, the indecision remained, and I have still not chosen between studying people to then create great things for them, and connecting with people.

For this, I am glad.  I get to indulge my joy of trying to understand what motivates us, moves us to tears, or drives us crazy, and then invent something with that knowledge.  I also get to connect back to my humble beginnings each and every time I have a student.  I know that I never want to lose the ability to speak to those who are just starting out, as they show us, in some sense, the pulse of the world we will come to see.  So as far as my career goes, as much as my understanding of the nuances of the mind deepens, I will always come back to rich, priceless human conversation.

In the end, perhaps what I am saying is that it’s never too late to discover your “calling”, even if you went all the way to graduate school for something else already.  To speak grandly, these days, I jump out of bed to dive further into the intricacies of being human.  One could actually argue that I simply expanded my fascination with complex systems, fundamental laws, and amazing things in the universe to the capabilities of the human brain.  I love to then bring this curiosity of mine to the table of 1 on 1 tutoring.  In Boston, academic tutoring is actually highly gratifying, because my students are so hard working and intelligent.  Maybe it’s the college town atmosphere, the growing foodie scene, or something else fueling them, but these engaged and interesting individuals are a pleasure to teach.  In this town so privileged to have such high quality educational systems, I hope that someday they pass this legacy on as teachers and tutors in Boston as well.

Contact us!

Comments

topicTopics
academics study skills MCAT medical school admissions SAT expository writing college admissions English MD/PhD admissions strategy writing LSAT GMAT GRE physics chemistry math biology graduate admissions academic advice ACT interview prep law school admissions test anxiety language learning premed MBA admissions career advice personal statements homework help AP exams creative writing MD study schedules test prep computer science Common Application summer activities history mathematics philosophy organic chemistry secondary applications economics supplements research 1L PSAT admissions coaching grammar law psychology statistics & probability legal studies ESL CARS SSAT covid-19 dental admissions logic games reading comprehension engineering USMLE calculus PhD admissions Spanish mentorship parents Latin biochemistry case coaching verbal reasoning DAT English literature STEM excel medical school political science skills AMCAS French Linguistics MBA coursework Tutoring Approaches academic integrity chinese letters of recommendation Anki DO Social Advocacy admissions advice algebra art history artificial intelligence astrophysics business cell biology classics diversity statement gap year genetics geometry kinematics linear algebra mechanical engineering mental health presentations quantitative reasoning study abroad technical interviews time management work and activities 2L DMD IB exams ISEE MD/PhD programs Sentence Correction adjusting to college algorithms amino acids analysis essay athletics business skills careers cold emails data science dental school finance first generation student functions graphing information sessions international students internships logic networking poetry resume revising science social sciences software engineering tech industry trigonometry writer's block 3L AAMC Academic Interest EMT FlexMed Fourier Series Greek Health Professional Shortage Area Italian Lagrange multipliers London MD vs PhD MMI Montessori National Health Service Corps Pythagorean Theorem Python Shakespeare Step 2 TMDSAS Taylor Series Truss Analysis Zoom acids and bases active learning architecture argumentative writing art art and design schools art portfolios bacteriology bibliographies biomedicine brain teaser campus visits cantonese capacitors capital markets central limit theorem centrifugal force chemical engineering chess chromatography class participation climate change clinical experience community service constitutional law consulting cover letters curriculum dementia demonstrated interest dimensional analysis distance learning econometrics electric engineering electricity and magnetism escape velocity evolution executive function freewriting genomics harmonics health policy history of medicine history of science hybrid vehicles hydrophobic effect ideal gas law immunology induction infinite institutional actions integrated reasoning intermolecular forces intern investing investment banking lab reports linear maps mandarin chinese matrices mba medical physics meiosis microeconomics mitosis mnemonics music music theory nervous system neurology neuroscience object-oriented programming office hours operating systems