What are you most passionate about

actually, "what matters most to you" can also be different...

for example, you can answer "what matters most" with "being with family", but that doesn't answer "what is your passion" or "what motivates you" that well...

so I guess it's a very tricky question to answer... make sure your answer can fit the question, and that the answer comes from somewhere deep within you =)

Nice thread.

The reality is that student loans force many students to choose high paying jobs, obviously to pay off debt early. Interests can evolve over time, but I hope you have the courage to not be tempted by short term monetary gains.

I hope I don't get tempted... while money and a good life is something I wish to have, in the end, after the past couple years, I learned that if I'm NOT happy to go to work everyday, it's just not worth it (for me).

Maybe my answer to "What matters most to you" is "being happy"... then the follow on question is... "what makes you happy?"

Actually, to every human being, "being happy" is what matters the most. Think about it .. everything that one does (Even self-less acts) is to feel happy in the end. What all of us try to define is, what acts / achievements make us the happiest.

actually, now that I brainstormed a bit, this might be THE "What Matters Most" Stanford essay for me. Every single career choice, hobby choice, and other thing has been because it made me happy. I'll just have to really discuss the details of "why" it makes me happy, and I think I have an essay... it allows me to include all the other things like "leave an impact", "look for a challenge", "competition", etc... What do you all think?

mNeo: yes, but I wonder if having an essay that talks about the details of what makes you happy will work... just throwing ideas out there... I mean, a lot of people work for the money, even though they're not happy... so you can't really say it's 'what matters most' to everyone... Look at all the big Hollywood stars, the super rich Ibankers... are they truly happy?

Happiness is subjective - I actually have a story for you guys - .

Every weekend, out in Malibu I meet this guy with whom I surf sometimes. I didnt know his background, but just found out that he is one of the executives for Warner Brothers - the guy is wealthy (rich is a poor adjective)... and his passion is surfing....

He is truly happy, coz he doesnt care about money, fame, or glamor. I guess you have to set aside time for what you are passionate about...

wow, that's the type of life I want to lead...

maybe "pursuit of true happiness?" While it sounds kinda cheesy (especially if I throw in our Constitution), if you really think about it, a lot of people get lost in the "must make enough money to survive/buy a yacht/whatever" mentality, living day-by-day just having a job because they need the money. Are they happy? Probably not. Are they pursuing happiness? Not really, or they think they are.

How many people out there does the kind of introspection that we are doing here just to apply to b-school? I would say even more than 50% of the applicants probably don't think about whether they're happy doing what they do, they just know that getting an MBA is the "right" (note sarcasm) thing to do, and it will make them "happy" if they get it.

I'll have to think about this a bit more, but if I can get this idea cohesive enough, it may make my Stanford essay...

Thanks for the great discussion everyone! I love brainstorming like this.

I think you caa reframe the statement as What makes you passionate - as what do you do that makes you happy.