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PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla. Do any of these sound familiar? PayPal is the most successful method of online payment; SpaceX is the revolutionary project of private reusable rockets; Tesla is the company that produces affordable electrical vehicles. However, do you know that they were all founded by the same person?
Elon Musk dropped out of Stanford and then chose three fields that he was most passionate about: the Internet, renewable energy, and space, as his future pursuits. Over the next 25 years (from 1992 to 2017), his passions motivated him towards astonishing success in his fields of interest and revolutionized the market and human race.
Regardless of sex, race, age, and occupation, passions are critical for success. But how to discover our the passions And how do people’s passions drive them to success? PRISMatics spoke to some PRISMS students to shed light on these questions.
Holly Wang reflects the artistic side of PRISMS with her interest in art and fashion design. She regularly spends after-school hours and weekends drawing and designing. According to Holly, her interest in fashion came partially from her childhood experience of shopping with her mother. Last summer, she took part in the fashion design program at the Rhode Island School of Design, one of the best design schools in the country, and had a full experience as a fashion designer. According to Holly,, it is hard to judge how long she had spent on art and design, because it is fun and relaxing just like a game. She usually watches TV programs about design (e.g. Runway Project) and reads fashion magazines to inspire and keep her updated about the fashion world. Holly said she is not yet sure about her major in university or her career, but she will probably continue exploring and studying her passion for design.
Holly's design
As a STEM school, many students here are passionate about science. Christina Wang, a talented sophomore, is interested in biology. In her words, her interest in biology stemmed from her experience of dissecting a pig before coming to PRISMS. This experience increased her passion for anatomy and physiology. For most of last year, she spent 1-2 hours a week learning and exploring knowledge in biology out of class. She took online courses and watched introductory videos from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). As Christina said, her passion for biology motivated her to study AP Biology in and outside of class. Although Christina is not sure about her future plans, the most probable choice for her in major and career is biology.
Beside science, PRISMS students have passions in the field of engineering. Peter Wei is one of them. Peter is passionate about engineering, especially the design aspect of it. Among all subfields of engineering, Peter is most interested in aerospace engineering — the design of aircrafts and rockets. He spends most of his free time working on engineering. As he recalls, he has been interested in engineering since primary school. He looked at models of planes and tried to design his own.
This interest became a passion after he took part in a robotics competition in middle school. For four years, Peter has spent even more time in the robotics lab than in school. He stays in the lab till 10, or even occasionally till 3 or 4 in the morning. Such experience has allowed him to deepen his understanding of and passion for engineering. The project he is most proud of making is the one-meter-diameter hexacopter he designed and built. He used the hexacopter to take photos of China. As for future, MIT is the best place to pursue his passion. And careers? Peter’s dream is to be a jet fighter designer.
It is evident that people’s passions motivate them and help them to define their goals. Some may discover their passions at an early age, while others discover them later. However, no matter what their passions are and at what stage of life they discover them, passions strongly influence people’s lives and direct them towards clearer future and success.
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