Finding the Calling, Essay Example

There is an inherent problem in claiming that, if a student has great difficulties in pursuing a particular field, they should reexamine their initial motives and move onto a different course of study. The approach is rational, but it overlooks the degree of personal commitment within the student, which in turn goes to the satisfaction the student may know only through effort in the unpromising field. More exactly, if a student is absolutely driven to pursue one direction, lack of ability and/or failure become relatively meaningless because the student will be unable to care so deeply about another study or career. These cases are likely unusual, as people are typically drawn to subjects for which they have a natural affinity. The larger point, however, is that when commitment is unwavering, no matter the problems in achieving success, the commitment must be respected. It may offer rewards only the struggling student can know and, essentially, is a choice more driven by personal ambitions than by parameters measuring success.

These extreme cases aside, however, it seems right that most students who are failing in their chosen fields should seriously reexamine their feelings and motivations. On one level, a lifelong passion for a subject may be nothing more than an initial impulse seized upon early and not questioned afterward; the “passion” is no more than an early interest never replaced, and is then not necessarily critical to the student’s sense of identity or purpose. On another, and importantly, that people tend to do well in what interests them is no small consideration. A calling, or a deep connection between person and occupation, is usually a meeting of ability and interest. It is also typically exponential, as the advances in ability and achievement generate greater interest in the individual for the field. When a calling is right for a person, this is the tangible evidence of it, and it is a significant yardstick. What this translates to is an obligation on the part of the student to assess again, when initial efforts fail, precisely why the subject is felt by them to be so meaningful. Such a reexamination of motives must reveal answers if it is approached honestly because no one who deeply cares about a field will wish to work within it and be of no real service to it. The solution to the dilemma, then, is for the student to truly understand their motives, as well as their regard for the subject. When this is done, the calling will be revealed as valid or otherwise, as in most cases where failure occurs it will be the wrong choice for the student.