What do you want to be when you grow up? The age-old question swirls around in the minds of Oak Park students as they ponder their future. While people have tons of different interests, at some point one has to choose a general path for their future. So how exactly do seniors make the choice when they reach that point?
For senior Shreyam Bhattacharya, his decision to major in some form of engineering largely stemmed from his surroundings.
One huge factor that impacted Bhattacharya greatly was the influence of his father. Because his father chose computer engineering it has always been around in Bhattacharya’s life, something also true to his friend group.
“A lot of my friends are also engineering majors,” Bhattacharya said. “I think it is because we all have similar interests.”
Bhattacharya chose engineering because he loves STEM subjects, including math and physics. However, his final call to engineering came here in Oak Park High School.
“I solidified my interest to do engineering in 11th grade during Mr. Lippincott’s mechatronics class,” Bhattacharya said. “It really showed me how applicable and hands-on engineering really is.”
For senior Kavya Sreeraj, choosing a niche like molecular biology to major in was a product of many things. Although she had always liked the sciences, biology really spoke to her out of them all.
“I always liked the sciences,” Sreeraj said. “Biology especially appealed to me because it was something that I could easily apply to my real life.”
Sreeraj was also privileged enough to get an opportunity to speak with professionals in the field. This also factored into her decision.
“I did an internship last summer with a professor that was researching this area,” Sreeraj said. “This basically confirmed what I wanted to study.”
That summer was impactful in more ways than one. Sreeraj also discovered public health as another prospective major to add to her interests.
“The prospect of creating interventions and actively helping the community was exactly how I wanted to contribute to healthcare,” Sreeraj said. “So now I want to double major in molecular biology and public health.”
At the end of the day, Sreeraj knows what she wants to accomplish with these majors.
“I am aiming to go into the pre-med track,” Sreeraj said. “So I hope these avenues of learning will help me.”
Senior Kavya Mehta chose a completely different major to pursue. Utilizing her strengths played a key factor in her decision.
“I am a business major,” Mehta said. “Depending on the school and what it offers, I’m in the business, finance or economics area.”
Mehta was always stronger in math rather than subjects such as science or history. Thus, going into something math-related always seemed natural, yet that wasn’t what she wanted to do forever.
“I chose business, which plays to my strengths in math without making me want to rip my eyeballs out,” Mehta said. “I would not be able to make it if I tried to do calculus for the rest of my life.”
In terms of classes at Oak Park, there are many that contributed to Mehta’s final decision.
“I’ve taken a lot of really amazing classes at OPHS,” Mehta said. “I think the combination of all the classes I’ve taken over four years helped me figure out what I wanted to do.”
Whether you want to pursue molecular biology, engineering, business or something else entirely, the classes at Oak Park High School and the activities you pursue outside will help you develop a sense of direction. The key to success in the future is to explore in high school so you can make a sound decision to set you up for times ahead.
