Passion

When I think of passion, I tend to think about people that do something for the love of it, rather than for the money or because they have to.  I always say if you don't love it, get out of it.  Most of our careers are going to span over the course of 30-40 years, and I don't think anyone wants to spend the majority of their life doing something they hate.  Whether it is teaching, business, or a professional athlete, there must be passion in what they do.  For example, Baltimore Orioles' MVP Cal Ripken Jr. played in a record 2,632 consecutive baseball games.  Yes, he made a lot of money, but you will be hard-pressed to find any baseball player that goes two weeks without asking for a day off.  Ripken loved the game of baseball and his passion for the game is why he earned the nickname "Iron Man," and is why he is talked of as one of the greatest players and persons in Major League Baseball history. 

It can also go the other direction.  My junior year of high school, I took Chemistry as an elective.  I could have taken Human Anatomy, but Chemistry interested me more and I felt like maybe someday I would want to do something with Chemistry.  After a year of Chemistry, I never wanted anything to do with it again.  I didn't necessarily love the subject going into the class, but I was eager to learn about the subject and see if it was something I wanted to do career wise in the future. 

The whole year turned out to be hell, as my teacher had no enthusiasm whatsoever.  Chemistry is tough stuff to begin with, and when the teacher doesn't help you learn in any way, it makes it that much tougher.   My teacher expected us to understand the content immediately and was annoyed if people asked questions about it.  If I was to go up to his desk and ask him a question on a certain question, he would simply tell me, "you should know that."  I never saw any passion in my Chemistry teacher my junior year.  He would teach a lesson, then basically shut off.  He was socially awkward and was unable to interact well with students.  He may have had a passion for chemistry, but I never once saw his passion for teaching or with kids.  I disliked him and the class so much, I was counting down the days until the class and school year was over.  His lack of passion for teaching turned me away from Chemistry, and to this day I have done nothing more involving Chemistry.