What is Happening?

After reading the article, "Who are you and What are you Doing Here?" I began to question pretty much my entire academic life. What am I really trying to achieve in my life? What career path do I really want? In a society where everyone is so focused on themselves and their own successes, it is often hard to find your place within the competition. Since coming to college, I've heard both "the amount of money you make in a job matters" as well as "do what makes you passionate." It has made me question if it is even possible to attain both. I wouldn't say my parents are like typical Asian parents who constantly pressure their children to be the best at everything. However, there is still pressure to do my best in order to make them proud and I know that some part of me subconsciously had my parents in mind when I chose my major and potentially my future career path. I have met with multiple professors during office hours and only a handful of them truly understand what I as a college student need in order to understand and learn the material; and much like the article says the other professors may be highly successful at what they do they are not truly focused on the teaching aspect of their careers and in turn results in countless hours of self studying and self teaching their class material to myself. College is a weird place where nobody really knows what they're doing but everyone is trying to get their life together yet also determined to accomplish their dreams.

Like Kefi, I also am Christian, and since coming to Northeastern I have largely found a lot of my community and friends through church. Within my church community I am able to learn from so many upperclassmen who are so willing to guide me both academically and also spiritually. Religion plays such a huge part in my everyday life; especially the aspect where God is in control of my entire life and knows all my plans before they even happen. But this concept that so much like predestination has made me wonder what exactly I should be doing at this exact moment and what decisions I should be making in order to successfully progress in life. However, I can confidently say that a lot of my security whether academically or in other aspects of my life comes from the idea that things usually work out and I can turn to a higher being for guidance. A lot of times college seems trivial when I start to focus on living for a greater purpose and then my brain starts hurting at the idea of it because I start wondering if I should even bother with earthly things anymore. That is such a weird concept when I really think about it, but a lot of it comes down to the idea of faith. It has been a completely different experience in college this year than in high school since both my religious and academic life are being combined into one. Coming to college has also exposed me to so many unique perspectives and beliefs from the community around me and classes like yours are such amazing spaces for all of us to discuss, argue, and also agree on so many topics that we are all constantly still trying to figure out in this life.

Megan