When I was younger, I had a strong sense that seeking knowledge and advancing science was the purest and most important work I could do. Pursuing a high-paying career or trying to gain influence in the world seemed “ignoble” and “common”. It’s a sad but necessary revelation that I no longer feel this way; my goals have shifted and I now care deeply about my ability to act directly in the world, rather than through science alone.

It’s hard to pin down when this fuzzy transition occurred, but it has increasingly shaped my actions for at least the past 5 years. Sometimes I wish I had been a bit more motivated to pursue money or influence, if only for the instrumental benefits towards affecting social change. On some level this feels like a betrayal of my younger self; however, I like to think he would have made the same decisions with the knowledge I have now.