On not giving up
I quite literally have a countably infinite number of interests, since the moment I learn about the existence of something, I become somewhat invested in learning about it. This might genuinely be a problem of mine, as it pairs terribly with my time management skills, but it is something that I've always had.
I'm interested in biology, physics, and chemistry. To many of the people I know, this is already a bizarre combination. Within the Olympiad community, basically a group of people who like to solve stupidly difficult problems, the vast majority of people pick a single subject to focus on. For example, many people do only the biology olympiad (USABO), or only the chemistry olympiad (USNCO), or only the physics olympiad (USAPhO). It’s also not uncommon to see some pairs, like biology and chemistry, or physics and math. Despite that, it’s really quite rare to see somebody truly devote themselves to all three at once.
However, I've quite literally spent nearly six years focusing on all three of these olympiads. I started with USABO, then moved on to USAPhO, then moved to USNCO. My interests basically flip every few years.
I'm also interested in mountain biking, tea ceremony, woodworking, hiking, hobby electronics, rock collection, language learning, piano playing, and more. I quite literally cannot list all the things I'm interested in.
This is also the reason why I call myself an "Aspiring Polymath." A polymath is somebody who is excellent in several different subjects, which is something that I really quite admire. Honestly, I don't think I'm anywhere near my goal of becoming a "polymath," which leads me to my next point.
It's really damn hard.
Yeah, I'm no genius. I literally have just as hard of a time learning new things as every single other person you know. I say this because I think it’s often understated just how damn hard it is to learn something new. Not only that, but it’s even harder to always be learning something new. You're basically perpetually in a state of utter confusion and ignorance.
It's super hard, man.
I don't think learning things has ever actually been easy for me. I slashed my leg open trying to do some mountain biking tricks, I failed so many freakin exams and typically went several days without getting a single practice problem right, back when I was studying for olympiads. Imagine sitting down to study, knowing that you got literally 50/50 of the problems you did so far incorrect. Now imagine doing that for months at a time. Yeah, it’s super freaking hard to learn new things.
But I still love to learn new things. What gives?
Well, for one, I failed so much that I swear I've not only grown comfortable with failing and falling on my face, but I've grown to hug failure like a friend. I've gotten so close with failure that I've met her parents and been married for seventeen years already. When I learn something new, I don’t even stop to think for a second that I won’t meet good ol' failure again. I don’t like to learn new things because it’s easy; I like to learn new things for the sake of learning new things.
Additionally, there are so many things in the world to learn. You don’t know anything about the thousands of different cultures, languages, and foods in the world. You don't know anything about just how complex seemingly simple things like rain, color, rocks, and more, can get. What’s absolutely bizarre to me is how pretty much every single subject or topic you could possibly want to learn in life has at least one poor soul who dedicated their life to the study of the matter. In Japan, for example, the entire process of wiping the floor down is a meticulous cultural tradition.
You only get one life on this earth as you, whether you believe in reincarnation or not. You have a limited number of days on this earth. The moment you leave, you will never, and I mean NEVER, experience the world as you again. Don’t squander your one chance to learn everything there is about this world. At least that’s what I think.
I truly think that learning new things not only keeps your mind sharp but it helps you make better decisions. It makes you into a better person.
Because of this, the pain of failing and falling flat on my face every single day is worth it. It’s worth it to constantly be in a state of unknowing and confusion because you're actively in the process of learning new things about the world. Things that you didn’t know yesterday, but you know today.
I genuinely believe that actively pursuing new things to learn, academic or not, is one part of having a happy and fulfilling life.
The whole world is your oyster. If you can accept the price of being aware of your own ignorance, then you can truly have whatever you want in this world.
Don’t give up, be stubborn as hell, don’t stop doing what you're interested in. You might be doing it utterly wrong, in which case, take a step back and try a new approach, but sure as hell don’t give up. The moment you give up on what you love is when you let the cosmos know the weakness of your mind, something they'll never let you live down. If you decide you aren’t interested in something anymore, still don’t give up. Pick up something new, learn something new, don’t even think about growing complacent with how little you know.