What keeps you motivated to learn?

Colleges & Universities University of Chicago
1

<p>This topic is in reference to things that are not related to any kind of professional education - I’m talking purely in terms of learning about things that are encountered in liberal arts education. So, even though I’m not an engineer, and will probably never use this, I love physics. Just a knowledge of the world that involves a paradigm shift of the mind, that causes a change in thinking is like a video game to me.</p>

<p>I also have an unfocused love of literature. Yet, I can’t seem to focus on one work itself. What keeps you motivated to stay in your room, for five hours straight, and read a great Classic? What keeps you focused, despite the other million things you want to do, such as watching tv, going out with friends, etc.?</p>

2

<p>I don’t think a love of literature necessarily entails a slavish devotion to reading the classics while cloistered in your room. You can integrate reading into every aspect of your life—read whenever you can eke out a moment to open a book. Similarly, you can dabble in any subject without giving up your social life; there is, fortunately, a happy medium between passing interest and monastic dedication.</p>

<p>UChicago students (like most intelligent and curious people) harbor a variety of interests and explore them in diverse ways. You shouldn’t refrain from exploring an academic interest or pastime simply because it doesn’t strictly pertain to your career aspiration.</p>