This weekend I went to LA to visit an old HS friend--for the remainder of this post I'll refer to her as T. I thought the visit would be a nice way to forget some of the stress of work and just relax but it was a bit mistaken. The person I ended up staying with was someone who I'd fought on and off with in school due to my perceived lack of ambition or intellectual drive in her, something that is highly prized in my family and their social circle. The person in particular was never an academic standout in high school, ended up attending a public school in state and is getting a masters in OT, something I consider a bit of a soft feel.

Many people in 'humanities' type subjects often feel that engineer and scientist look down on them, and it's probably true--few things compare to the rigor of engineering or science studies; there is a reason that throughout media the stereotype of anthropology and sociology are viewed as fall back majors. The truly baffling thing to me is that T is under the delusion that OT majors can earn 6 figures our of a masters program. No doubt there are certain people who might, but it certainly isn't the norm. Computer science/ engineering on the other hand can for the most part guarantee a salary a significant amount higher than the median salary of $67000.00 for OT, and that is with just a BS. There is a reason that so many people featured in Forbes and Times influential lists are technologists.

A secondary condition that T labors under is the idea that 'helping' people as an OT can be just as fulfilling as founding a company and inventing something that revolutionizes the way in which the world works. We have a mutual acquaintance from school who went to college for music and is now a piano teacher. T thinks this is okay since some people want to settle for this sort of a life but I think it's a bit of a waste; why not aspire to be a concert pianist, or at least part of some medium where your art is appreciated? Her argument is that you can impact the lives of your students who may then grown up to be Emanuel Ax, but then why not aspire to that yourself? The only reason to settle is for lack to talent, and in my belief that is a personal failure. In the same vein, T thinks that being an OT is just as fulfilling as founding you own company because you are improving others lives. As an OT, you may be improving the quality of life for a patient, but it is not nearly as much as you would if you had gone into medicine proper. People who chose a profession as an OT do so because they don't have the talent to become a doctor--even one who specializes in sports medicine.

T has time and time again said she thinks I expect too much of people, and it may be true, but I went to a school surrounded by people who all wanted to become CEOs or the like. Likewise in the bay area everyone seems to share the entrepreneurial spirit and the drive to succeed, not settle.

I suppose the main issue is that T has always lived in a comfort zone of people who always have settled, while I've always been surrounded by people who expect more of themselves and the world around them. The sad conclusion is that T's friendship really doesn't add much value to my life anymore. I suppose 'growing up' in part is realizing the friends you went to HS went would not be the people you would seek as your friends in your adult life.

Just food for thought.