I get some funny looks when I share with my Her Campus BU friends that I am a human physiology major. I can clearly tell there is some confusion as to why I write for an online publication if I’m a “science person.” I am met with the same confusion when I tell my STEM-major friends, who usually comment something along the lines of, “Oh, wow, I could never!”
To me, my creative instincts have always felt incredibly natural, but so was my love for science, math, and many other analytical fields. While I do believe it is true that someone can be either a humanities person or a science person, I don’t like how these categories limit people to only one definitive personality type. I didn’t want to be one or the other.
Now don’t get me wrong, it was very easy for me to decide on my major. I hated so many of my English and humanities classes, which is why I have found that my major and career goals suit me pretty nicely, but I still needed ways to express myself. I found that I hated the pressure of these humanities classes. I felt limited creatively because I graded off of this creativity. However, I don’t think people have to be one way or the other. These disciplines intersect way more than most people give it credit for. For a long time, I tried to put myself in the science box, which felt incredibly restrictive.
In order to reconcile my desire to be creative with my love of science, I joined clubs where I was free to express myself and spend much of my admittedly little free time consuming and creating art. I’ve definitely experienced some imposter syndrome along the way. Beating myself up for not fully belonging somewhere isn’t a healthy coping mechanism, so I am still working through my insecurities. But struggling is normal, and I am proud of myself for branching out into more creative hobbies. It has allowed me to take a break from my academics and express myself in different ways.
Finding an outlet to fulfill all of my hobbies has been so crucial for my happiness. It’s far too limiting to think of yourself as only capable of one thing.
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