Jamie had just finished high school. He knew he was supposed to have figured out what he wanted to study in college but somehow, he hadn't figured that out yet.
He had been asked so many times by family and several other people what he wanted to study, but he froze everytime, not knowing what to reply. However, Jamie was sure about one thing, he wanted to do something science related. He loved science so much. His passion for it was glaring for all to see. Jamie was a smart kid. He always had the highest grades in high school. This fact made more people interested in his choice of study.
Jamie always wanted to attend MIT. It was his dream school. For a long time, he had been working towards making sure he had everything required for him to stand a good chance of getting into MIT.
The day finally came for Jamie to send in his application to MIT. He had finally narrowed his choices to Computer science and Theoretical physics. He had to figure out which he would go for. He loved both courses passionately but the difficult choice had to be made. His mother sat with him in front of the computer, as he was stranded with the application.
"Mum, I don't know which course I'll go for. I can't pick between both. I'm very confused" Jamie ranted to his mother.
"You have to pick one Jamie. Think hard and reflect. I trust your judgement." his mother replied
Jamie remembered that his idol was a theoretical physics and he always wanted to be like him. So Jamie decided he was going to study Theoretical physics. Jamie applied to study Theoretical physics at MIT and he waited eagerly for their response.
One beautiful Monday morning, he got an email from MIT stating he had been offered admission to study his course of choice. He was filled with instant joy.
"Mom, Dad, I just got into MIT!" Jamie said to his parents in excitement.
"Wow, I'm happy for you my boy" his dad said
"I had no doubt whatsoever. I'm proud of you" his mom added.
A week later, Jamie resumed. On his first day, as he walked to class, he saw a boy trying to find his glasses on the floor. It appeared his eyesight was terrible without those glasses and he was finding it difficult to locate his glasses which fell. Jamie immediately went to help him.
"Here is your glasses" Jamie said, handing it over to him
"Thank you" he replied as he wore it.
"I'm Jamie. What's your name?"
"I'm Joe"
"Nice to meet you Joe. Are you new here"
"Yeah I am. Majoring in theoretical physics" Joe said
"Wow, we're course mates. I'm also new here. Let's head to class. We're getting late" Jamie said.
Both boys became good friends. They did almost everything together. However, Jamie was having a hard time with school. He had a hard time with calculations and solving complex physics problems. It was as if he was no longer the smart kid he used to be.
Jamie envied those who were in computer science. He was always a computer guy. Coding and everything related to a computer came naturally to him. He knew deep down that somehow, he regretted not going for computer science. However, Jamie decided to dismiss that regret and believe his decision to go for theoretical physics was the best.
One fateful day, Jamie and Joe tried to solve a mathematical problem. They spent all day trying to solve that particular problem but they just weren't getting it right. The math wasn't checking out.
They persevered until the morning of the next day, still trying to solve it but to no avail. When they saw that there was nothing more they could do, they looked at each other and simultaneously said
"Richard"
Richard was one of the smartest kids on campus. Jamie and Joe thought that since they couldn't solve the math problem, perhaps with Richard's help, they could.
They went to Richard's room to meet him.
"Hey Richard, we need your help. We've been trying to solve this math problem but we can't seem to get the calculation right. I'd like you to help us out." Jamie said.
"Alright, let me see it." Richard said
Jamie handed over the notebook where they did the failed calculations. After 2 minutes looking at it, Richard smiled
"Ah-ha. I found what the issue is. You're missing a cosine" Richard said.
"That can't be right. Are you sure about this?" Joe asked
"Yes I'm sure. Let me show you"
Richard did the entire calculation again and he got it right.
"I can't believe this. It took you 2 minutes to solve what took us a whole day to try and figure out" Jamie said in shock
Jamie felt lost. He felt he didn't belong in the theoretical physics department. As much as he wanted it, theoretical physics wasn't his thing. He realized he needed to study something he was naturally good at, just like Richard was naturally good in physics. He knew he had to switch to computer science, which had always been his passion.
The next week, Jamie completed the process of switching to computer science and it was the best decision he made. He flourished and became one of the graduating students of his set. Jamie and Joe, who eventually became a theoretical physicist, remained best of friends.
