In the summer after my freshman year, I wanted nothing more than to wander around the house in my underwear and extra large t-shirt. Everyday, I’d sleep for no less than twelve hours and maybe, if I felt like it, I’d get dressed and go to a friend’s house just to sit around some more. My friends and I would then throw out suggestions on where to go, only to decide it was too hot outside and that sitting in an air conditioned room just felt right. Maybe tomorrow we’ll drive to the beach. Or next weekend. The beach wasn’t going anywhere, and we weren’t in a great hurry either.

Ah, that was the life. That was what summer vacation was all about: sitting and doing absolutely nothing until all hours of the night for three whole months.

A week before my laziness started, a friend that I hadn’t seen for five years wrote on my Facebook wall and suggested we grab lunch and catch up when we were both in town the following week. She texted me the day before and said we should meet at noon in front of Panera’s.

“Yeah, that sounds good. See you then! :-)” I texted back. But really, that didn’t sound good at all. Now I had to wake up at the crack of dawn. Unbelievable.

We ended up meeting at 12:30 because I actually slept through my 10:30 alarm. After half an hour of exclaiming of how good it was to see each other, we finally started talking about what was presently going on in our lives. She was attending Swarthmore, a small liberal arts college I had never heard of near Philadelphia. Apparently, despite the small name, it was filled with big ideas.

When she told me she was pre-med, I restrained the urge to groan and bang my head against the table. I expected her to tell me all about her meticulously planned out life where she will be living in a mansion with her steady 600k income and sneer upon my “undecided but maybe psychology” major that will leave me living in a box and surviving off the loose change people threw at me.

You see, I had been somewhat disillusioned by pre-meds because, for the most part, they seemed to be driven only by money and a precise plan. Although there is nothing wrong with wanting both, it makes me a little uneasy to think that most future doctors are filled with more greed than compassion. Plus most pre-meds tend to freak out when one of the two doesn’t follow through. I would know because I used to be pre-med up until the third week of Bio 1101, when I decided that I really could care less about the different stages of mitosis and that iClicker questions really sucked. That is how I landed in my “undecided but maybe psychology” major, where I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. And it amazes the hell out of them because, “What?! Aren’t you worried about that?” No, not really. It’ll come to me. Eventually. Maybe …

But she amazed the hell out of me when she smiled and said, “Oh, that’s OK. You still have time to figure it out. Besides, you can do a lot with a psychology major. Just be creative. A Swarthmore alum actually came to talk to us about how she was trying to change men’s view on women in Afghanistan, and some of it is actually working. Maybe you could do something like that?”

She went on to talk about how she wanted to join the Peace Corps (because the director was a Swarthmore alum that she had dinner with) and Doctors Without Borders in the future and how she was actually volunteering at a medical clinic in Peru for the remainder of the summer.

I stared at her in awe and admiration. Maybe it was because we were sitting next to a window, but I could have sworn she had an angelic glow around her. There was no doubt about how passionate she was with what she planned on doing with her life. Her eyes lit up when she talked about her summer in Peru, and she could not stop smiling at the thought of joining the Peace Corps.

She made me realize something I should have known a long time ago. When it comes to what you want to do with the rest of your life, practicality is hardly relevant. As long as you’re passionate about what you’re doing, it will be worth your while.

If I was passionate about medicine, I would have toughed it out in Bio 1101. But I wasn’t. I was lucky enough to realize it just wasn’t meant to be in three weeks, not three years. You can always have a well thought out plan on how you’re going to reach your goal but just know that it’s OK to deviate it from it once in a while. You don’t have to go to med school, law school or business school to be considered “accomplished.” Be creative. And most importantly, love what you do.

“Well, what about you?” she finally asked. “What’re you doing this summer?”

Unfortunately, she also made me realize that everyone else was out saving the world while I was still catching up on last season’s Lost. Which never happened either. Last I heard, the island disappears? What in tarnations?

Sandie Cheng is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at scheng@cornellsun.com. That One, Please appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.