As anyone who's dabbled in the creative pursuits seriously, the question of "DO I HAVE ANY TALENT?!" inevitably comes up.

Panda, a senior in high school, wrote a very thoughtful comment in response to Chapter 48 - the chapter I'd devoted to TALENT. She wrote that she's torn between pursuing the arts vs. becoming a doctor, a dilemma many of us have faced or will face or still struggle with today, and I wanted to share our exchange with you.

Thank you for this chapter! I like to draw in my free time and people have said I'm quite good. I really enjoy doing it. However my parents want me to become a doctor so I have all the sciences at school. I often thought about how good it would be to study art but shuddered at the thought of doing it professionally. I don't have the confidence that my work could be good enough in the future. So I'm taking a safe route and studying sciences. I like Biology and Psychology and somewhat Chemistry but to be honest my grades are just average and nothing exceptional. I hear stories about how you have to be so smart to get into a medical school but I don't know if I'm smart enough. So I'm scared I'll fail that too. I'm only in high school and I'll graduate next year. I'm in a confused state because It's so hard to find a balance between my hobbies and my studies and I don't know what I'll do if I can't go to a medical school. I can't go to an art school either and I have no idea what I'm actually good at. I am not confident in anything. So reading your book somehow makes me feel somehow good that I'm not the only one. However, you had the courage to try your dreams but I don't know if I'll be able to do that in the future. If I go into a medical school and realize this is not that I want to do, then it's too late!

Awww thank you for sharing so much in your comment Panda. I've been thinking about this all morning. I remember being in high school, and just so swamped with homework, and extra curriculars and applications to universities, and being a teenager, I didn't have any time to think very deeply about my career choices. Yet the choice I made in high school dictated how I spent the next 8 years of my life.


 It takes 13 years to train a doctor. After that you're facing patients every day for another 30+ years until you retire. You need to take some time (take a summer if you can) and think really really hard, about HOW you want to spend your time. What's something that you don't mind working on tirelessly, over and over again, day in day out, until you're satisfied with it. Because all that time spent working, those years added together, that's your life.

Xoxo,

Michelle