what's in your cup of tea?

It seems as if many people know exactly what their cup of tea is. They seem to know exactly what they want to do with their life, and they have their life planned out. And because of this, they can walk around with purpose. Right now they're focused on taking those prerequisite classes, studying hard for a good GPA, building up their resumes, getting internships, applying to grad school... all so they can pursue that dream career. Of course it's awesome if you know what you're passionate about, and are working your way to fulfill your aspirations, but I've always wondered just how do people really know what they want to do with their lives? Have they tried enough different kinds of tea to find out which one is their favorite? Were they lucky enough to find a particular flavor early-on and like it so much that they are pleased to just stick with it? Or did they just read and research all about a certain type of tea that they have enough faith to pursue it, even though they've never actually tasted it before? Or did they not have to choose at all, because long before they even thought about it, their parents set down before them a cup of tea and told them drink?

Even if people don't know what they want to do, at least they know what is definitely not their cup of tea. (Have I killed the tea analogy yet?) For some people it's, "Math and science? Never! I can't even do fractions." For some people it's, "Humanities? Give me a math problem over writing a paper any day.

To my great inconvenience, I don't fall into either categories, not even the second one. There’s never been a subject that I really didn’t enjoy at one time or another. Science opens my eyes to see how the physical world works and how to put my hypothesis to test through the scientific method. History has always engaged my interest, with its fascinating stories about what people, not so different from us, had experienced in the past. Math has fun logic games, and nothing compares with the satisfaction I get from figuring a hard math problem on my own. Literature and the arts have the power to portray the human condition, and I have been more often moved to tears by reading books than by watching movies. Oh and psychology lets me figure out just how many mental cases I have. And the list goes on and on. Ideally, my cup of tea would be the entire world! Just like the Yael Naim song, “I’m a young soul, in this very strange world, hoping I could learn a ‘bit bout what is true or fake.” Why should I limit myself when a world of knowledge is out there for me to explore and understand?

Unfortunately college requires a specialization in a major and the real, working world looms over me and scrutinizes me for any specialized skills I may have. And as I'm starting my sophomore year, I have even less of a clue of what I want to major in than I was coming in as a freshman. Reality kicks in.

But for now, my cup of tea looks like this.

What is this, you ask? What has political figures swimming in my tea have to do with anything?? Good question. I have no idea. My roommate sent this to me, because she said it reminded her of me. Besides coming up with vague conclusions that I like tea and I'm considering a major in political science, I'm not even sure why I put this up, except for my own amusement value and the fact that it was sort of the impetus for this long post.

So long til next time!