Growing up, senior Architha Dhavala wanted to be an airline hostess. Her family often traveled during her childhood and Dhavala thought it was fun to dress up in air hostess attire. However, as Dhavala got older, she started to stray away from her earlier passion and instead became fascinated by biotechnology, a field she says that her younger self would have never considered.

“I was more looking at the fun and the cool things, and I think in kindergarten, [I] wouldn’t really know what biotech would be,” Dhavala said. “So I don’t think I would have been interested in it at all. Actually, I would have just [said] it would be a boring major.”

As Dhavala grew older, her declining interest in becoming an air hostess stemmed from her traveling less, and her desires were gradually replaced by a growing fascination with biotechnology. After taking classes such as AP Biology, watching captivating dystopian science movies and connecting biology with her computer science knowledge, Dhavala eventually settled on biotechnology as her aspiration going into college, leaving behind her air hostess days.

From an early age, senior Karly Bower developed an affinity for animals through her passion for horseback riding, a hobby she started when she was 5 years old. This love for animals combined with a fascination with physiology initially steered her toward a career in veterinary medicine during her middle school years.

“I really liked working with horses and dogs growing up,” Bower said. “I had a period of time where I wanted to be a horse vet specifically because of running horses. [But] my parents kind of warned me all about medical school stuff because my dad was gonna go into medical school and he decided not to do it [and pursued] a different career path. I just heard horror stories about going into it and not getting a lot of payback, so I kind of got scared away from doing any veterinary stuff.”

This skepticism led Bower to shift her interests initially toward law, motivated by her enjoyment of debate and writing. However, Bower ultimately settled on majoring in economics after hearing that it would result in a stable career path from current economic major students. Despite these shifts, Bower still cherishes her original passion for animals and physiology and hopes to achieve her dream of combining economics with veterinary medicine in the future.

In elementary school, senior Alex Lee wanted to be either a firefighter or a cop, as they were common heroic figures in shows, but later changed his mind after seeing the reality of the occupation outside TV. Compounded with Lee’s growing involvement in sports, specifically football, his interests have shifted toward sports therapy. He sees sports therapy as a way to further his passion for sports.

“[It] has me wanting to stay sort of in the area if I can’t play,” Lee said. “Obviously, I want to play, but if that doesn’t end up happening, at least [I’ll] be around the environment.”

While Lee only settled on pursuing sports therapy this year, he still believes that his interest in sports therapy would have been appealing to him even at a younger age, specifically because he enjoyed watching the National Football League. Having participated in football since freshman year, Lee hopes that he can find ways to pursue his passions into the sports world.

Senior Annika Lee wanted to pursue a career in teaching when they were younger, looking up to their elementary school teachers as role models. Throughout middle school, Lee also considered becoming an author because of their passion for writing. Now, Lee is pursuing a different path, seeing both their past desires as unrealistic. “I don’t think I could handle dealing with kids all day,” Lee said.

“I have a short temper sometimes and I also have micro-managing tendencies, so definitely not conducive to working with kids. As for an author, it’s not realistic. There’s a lot of authors who never really make it big, and so there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to make money.”

Lee settled on pursuing Environmental Science and Policy toward the end of their high school career. This decision was partly influenced by their experience throughout high school volunteering with Tzu Chi, a Buddhist non-profit organization, where they removed invasive species from the environment. Lee also says social movements like Black Lives Matter helped them realize how people can contribute to making change, something they want to incite in the realm of environmental science. Still, as editor-in-chief of La Pluma, Lee hopes that they can continue writing to “feed [their] soul and nurture [their] creative side,” even though they have ultimately chosen to pursue a different career path.