While working on a tedious group project for government class, my friends and I sidetracked to talk about college majors. Out of us five, three wanted to major in biochemistry and go into medicine. Another wanted more than anything to become a fashion designer, but gave that idea up for the more stable field of architecture. I, of course, was left out of the whole deal. English? Please. I received four blank, unbelieving stares.

Then the other day, I asked another girl her plans for the future, interested in only the internal compromise, expecting the same old same old. That was when I received a pleasant shock; she wanted to go into fashion, study in New York, no mention of medicine, law, business, or engineering.

Those, by the way, are the Big Four: fields that everyone falls into, fields that are the most lucrative. Of course, the fact that a lot of people want to go into biochemistry was not a surprise. Medical science is probably the most stable path, guaranteeing the most stable future. No risks, no hardships, just a six-digit salary. But the surprise was when I asked the same people what they wanted to do if all pay was equal; I got the most imaginative answers, answers that suited each person’s personality. One girl even wanted to be a pilot!

I’m not a complete advocate of learning for learning’s sake and I understand that practicality is reality, but there is a line between compromise and sheer force. Loving literature and going into communications is one thing, loving graphic design and going into medicine is another.

It’s the saddest when people with obvious talent give up their dreams. A friend has loved art his whole life, but is going into business to avoid the ‘starving-artist’ symptom. Another has a talent in music, but is clouded by the prestige of medicine. These cases are the saddest because they destroy potential. What really could’ve been is never known.

At the end of the day, money really isn’t everything. I admire the girl who dared to go into fashion. She dared to face a challenge and enjoy the journey as well as the destination.