Main content
Course: Growth mindset > Unit 2
Lesson 7: SerendipityLearn: Serendipity
The path to self-discovery
Everyone has a different story, but hard work and self-discovery are a common thread.
Some of the people in the videos below knew from the get-go that they wanted be an artist, or chef, or teacher, but some people took the more common path of trying things out, working at them, and then eventually finding the career that they are passionate about.
Film director
Olivia Abtahi talks about the importance of seeing everything as a learning opportunity and how hard work got her to where she is now.
Chef de cuisine
Zia Sheikh talks about the twists and turns of his professional journey as he developed his sense of purpose and rediscovered his passion for cooking.
Teacher leader
Paul Clifton talks about why he wanted to become a teacher and how he is passionate about becoming a role model as a black male in a middle school classroom.
Dancer
Michael Novak shares how he overcame physical injury, financial hardships, and much more to make his dream of becoming a dancer come true.
Audio engineer
Kelly Kramarik shares her journey of discovering the audio engineer profession and how she created her own major in college to go down the career path she wanted.
Salon owner
Sam DiVine talks about discovering that the beauty industry can be a great career and finding her own path within that field.
If you would like to learn more about a career mentioned in this activity or another career, please visit the Khan Academy careers page.
You have completed part 2 of 3 for this activity: Learn!
Want to join the conversation?
Zia sheikh developed his love for cooking and arts. When he was young he was bullied and spent most of his time at home and that’s when he learned to cook. He then built his whole career out of that and I really successful.(13 votes)- Is there really opportunities out there? Are we too scared to make the big step?(10 votes)
- Yes I am because of communication, being a female black African American with an accent and speaks fast(3 votes)
Reflection
What I learned was all these people experienceced things that stopped them from success but they decided that won’t stop them(7 votes)- Two interesting/insightful things that I heard was how in the audio engineer video she created her own major at her college. And also in the chef video it showed how you need to do something that you love.(6 votes)
- the audio engineer video she created her own major at her college and that's pretty impressive another one is he chef video it showed how you need to do something that you love and that's important(5 votes)
Is it that challenging to take larger steps(4 votes)- what was intersting was that they struggle to get to where they are at today(4 votes)
The most insightful thing is from the cook, audio engineer and the hair stylist, that we can find our own internships and our ways of learning (e.g. books) to really gain experience for a profession and keep learning and trying to get better at it.(3 votes)- learning from mistakes and problems is something we should all be able to do because that’s the number one step to conquering through them.(3 votes)
are there choices in life that we feel are to scary to take ourself?(3 votes)