If you asked me what my favorite subject was, I wouldn’t be able to truthfully answer you.

Now out of necessity and not wanting to let you down with some generic reply that may mislead you to think I don’t care enough to even spare you five seconds of my time to give you an exact answer, I might list the first subject off the top of my head.

But truly, I’ve come to realize I have no distinct favorite.

I find some applicational value in just about every subject, and this has been solidified through my experiences with a variety of courses throughout high school. I find merit in learning every subject for different reasons. They all have their unique characteristics and have shaped me and influenced my way of thinking through various means.

As such, it irks me when people ask, “Are you more of a math and science person or English and history type of person?”  And I’ve been guilty of asking this, too.

That question in and of itself delineates two different types of people with interests that are mutually exclusive. Essentially a Venn diagram with no overlap whatsoever. It’s black and white, a clear contrast, where no grey area can reside.

Some might think the question posed is merely the manifestation of the harmless curiosity of wanting to know what interests an individual has, and I get that.

But after thinking about the potential implications of what it means, I do think this question has impacts a lot deeper than surface level intrigue. In fact, I think it serves as social commentary of what has become of our society.

From the get go, right as we enter the K-12 educational system, we’re taught that everything we learn culminates into our decision of what career pathway we want to follow. It’s all about making choices—important choices in the present, which determine our futures and lifestyles and quality of life down the line.

We slowly become victim to being boxed into different classifications, especially whatever is an suitable and apt descriptor of someone in the field of our future careers and dream jobs.

As such, two roads diverge from one path. Those proficient in math and science yield to the road that leads them to a STEM-based job, and those with skills in English and history venture off onto the other road, which will land them with a career in relation to humanities and the arts.

Notice how I used the specific words “proficient” and “skills” rather than “passionate for” or “interested in.”

This is because it’s ingrained in us that what we’re competent in should also comprise of our work and hobbies.

In this process, though, we become one-dimensional people with our work being our only forms of interest.

Whatever happened to being curious about a variety of subjects? Why do we force ourselves to identify as one type of individual over another? Why do we perpetuate the division of one way of thinking over another?

It feels like we’re expected to be either left-brained: logical, analytical, and systematic or right-brained: creative, artistic, and imaginative.

We create such rifts by forcing our personalities to fit into two choices. As humans, we’re whole complex people with diverse interests, identities, and personalities. We’re not to be caricatures of a few traits.

If you want to pursue a STEM career but history, art, and/or English appeal to you, that’s totally fine, and so goes the other way around as well. Satiate your desire for knowledge with a well-balanced diet and mixture of these courses.

If you do exceptionally well in certain subjects, but other courses have your heart, that’s okay, too.

Be mindful that your interests are your own. They should not be decided or based on your career aspirations or proficiency.

Simply put, don’t let your spark—your interests no matter what they are—dim.

You are not a decision between one thing or another. You are more than a generalization.