Diablo

On my college forms, I write that I want to pursue biology and possibly medicine in the future. But frankly, nothing about my resume seems to back up what I say. I don't volunteer at the hospital; I ended up not interning at the brain trauma center and went to Stanford instead; I haven't cloned a rat in my garage or synthesized a new protein that will be used to treat pancreatic cancer.

A certain someone's mother has repeatedly made certain remarks to my mother, hinting that I should not pursue biology because the field is too competitive, and that I should pursue humanities instead since I write so well. It really is a thinly veiled attempt to discourage me; her own kid seems to be heading down the same path and to be honest, that person doesn't seem to be any more likely to survive in the "competitive field" than me.

Despite the fact that perhaps I don't exactly have a riveting passion for science (as evidenced by how I'm using my time right now when I have piles of chemistry homework to do), I know for sure that I would not be happy majoring in English either. Well, for one thing, AP Literature has pretty much killed high school English for me. Plus, I'm the type of person who needs some sort of job security or will otherwise be worried perpetually.

So yes, it isn't just my parents pushing me to do something practical. I don't want to be manning the counter at a downtown diner or cleaning after big business executives, barely scrimping enough money away to support myself while working as a free-lance writer on the side. I'm living very comfortably right now, and I would like to stay this way. And don't even bother trying to argue that marrying someone rich will solve money problems -- that kind of talk irritates me the most.

So why do I have a picture of Diablo Cody on this post?

Everyone has their own ridiculous only-when-pigs-fly daydream. I haven't watched Juno yet (which I will do... sometime before I graduate), but I have heard about Diablo Cody quite a bit. For me, she represents something like Gatsby's green light -- a distant optimism. Obviously I like to write, but one of my favorite things to do is to create stories. Sometimes, it's fun to think about what could happen (especially since in two decades, I'll probably be thinking about what could have happened). Diablo Cody was discovered when an agent came across her blog. Granted, her blog was about working as a stripper, but here is the thing: I doubt she ever seriously thought she would become an Academy Award-winning screenwriter one day.

And who knows? If the talent is there, with a bit of luck, anything can happen. In fact, sometimes you don't even really need talent, come to think of it. I apologize in advance to any Twilight fans reading this, but seriously, Stephenie Meyer is not a talented writer. From my perspective, the reason her books became so popular was because the concept of Edward and kinky love with a vampire appeals to those hopeless romantics out there. Even then, I stil think that concept could have been executed in a smarter way. But whatever. I am not going to even poke around with the vampirexhuman romance cliche.

So does it simply come down to luck? Probably. So what? I'll continue working for the stereotypical stable future that has been laid down before. And I'll keep writing, so that if luck ever turns in my favor, I will have something to show for it.