when i grow up i want to be a polymath

so my mom will tell you that when i was i would always say i wanted to be a fireman when i grew up. this is true, but really what i wanted to be (and still do) when i grow up is to be a polymath.

no that does not mean i want to be a mathematician, along for about a year that seemed interested in college. a polymath is a very dorky way of saying a person whose knowledge is not restricted to one subject area. a.k.a. a renaissance man (thus the self portrait of leonardo di vinci to the left).

so since i was around 12 or 13 years old, i set my sights on being ultra well-rounded. it's shaped the majority of the decisions in my life and those who have known me for a long time i know i make some weird and silly life choices.

i've made a lot decisions made with the hopes of being well-rounded

• spent every summer since i was in middle school away from home in some new and often uncomfortable summer camp/school
• decided to learn 3 uncommon languages (russian, latin and ancient greek)
  
• learned the visual arts (lots of drawing early on, then photography, then painting)
• learned to play every sport i could get into (except ice skating - which my sisters have teased me about in the past)
• settled on a philosophy degree in undergrad
• studied martial arts for 7 years (and through it - massage)
• went into finance after school

but at the end of the day, i had little desire to try to actually become a mini di vinci. instead i felt that if you only get to live life once, then why would i want to specialize? shouldn't i try to experience as much of life as possible to see if i'd like it or not?

and to be honest, there are a lot of nay-sayers about living a polymath life-style. those that say that if you don't specialize that you'll never get anywhere in life. and i like to try hard to prove those people wrong. and while i haven't gotten to that point yet, i will. because dammit - specialization is for insects.