WP2: Integration
We are often asked to share a “fun fact” when identifying ourselves for the first time, to which many answer with a particular interest or hobby. As a part of my current struggle with my own identity, I had labeled myself as “average” due to the false belief that I had to be perfect in one specific thing to really claim it as my own. Humans are a multitude who carry multiple interests and aspects that make up their identity, yet today in society we are often forced into one particular category (major, career, job, etc). Perhaps there is no need to be “perfect” in these areas because in many circumstances those skills are not even used or incorporated. I wanted to dig deeper and receive input on whether or not the hobbies/interests we claim as a part of our identity can truly be integrated into our future.
Various circumstances have evidently influenced each individual’s response. Through a series of questions, I discovered that some of the participants differ in their outlook regarding their interests and their current career/job/major. For instance, Jose Luis, who has a strong passion for baseball, acknowledges that baseball is not directly incorporated into his current job as a salesman. However, he himself does his best to incorporate it and invests in products he could sell that reflect this passion. On the other hand, Sandra, who has a stable job as an insurance agent, states that she is unable to really mix any of the skills/interests/hobbies she has and finds it best to separate the two.
I decided to interview college students as well, being that it was most of their first years in university and had the most recent experience of having to pick a major. Christina, a business major, stated that she herself did feel a pressure to fulfill monetary needs in her future and therefore was guided by this rather than her own personal likings. April, a participant who dropped out of college, found that she was unable to incorporate her passion for art and drawing due to feeling that there would be no stability. The pressure of switching to different majors eventually had a toll on her ability to manage her school life, causing her to drop out.
An interesting perspective that April brought up was that society is often sold the concept of the “American Dream”. Individuals travel to the U.S because ideals regarding individualism draws them to pursue their dreams. The harsh reality is that many individuals do not have the resources or opportunity to really follow a personal passion due to other necessities. The media constantly tells us to do what we love, and we will “never work a day” in our lives. That in itself becomes very misleading, as we feel an obligation to love our job or occupation. The reality is that it’s okay to not feel a strong personal connection to a major or job, it doesn’t necessarily mean our other interests/hobbies go to waste just because we are unable to turn it into a career or job.
As I reach the midpoint of my second semester of my freshman year at USC, I find clarity in these responses. There were multiple points in time where I questioned why I wasn’t enjoying my major, or why I wasn’t as passionate as others were about what they were pursuing. Creating this archive of interviews introduced me to different perspectives that allowed me to move a step further in the search for my identity. A job, major, and other labels may categorize us despite being a multitude of things, however, the acquisition of skills as a result of hobbies/interests have already been ingrained in our identities; labels do not need to validate it.
