“‘Govinda, my friend, now you have taken this step, now you have chosen this path. – Behold, now you’ve turned into a man and are choosing your path for yourself.'”

(Hesse, Hermann Siddhartha, 2000, 25)

A theme that was prevalent in Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha was Individuality. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the term individuality as, “total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others” In the novel, one of Siddhartha’s oldest friends, Govinda, sets out on his own journey to become a monk, diverging from following Siddhartha’s path.

In my past experiences, I have also experienced a sense of individualism. Since I was able to speak and hear, my parents put a pressure on me to work in the medical field like so many of my relatives. And while I admire their work, I could never see myself happy working in that setting. Instead, I had always envisioned myself working more creatively, especially in the digital media aspects of business. It now became important to me to change my parents wishes to their daughter.

After getting my own DSLR camera, I began to document and work on professional photography skills, for my own leisure and to hopefully prove to my parents that I can branch out to working in the photography field in the future. I would practice taking scenic landscapes while on vacations and even set up a professional Instagram account to document all my pictures.

Now, a year and a half has passed since I made the decision to follow my own career path, and my parents have finally caved in to my aspirations for my future career. Because I put in effort to become my own person and make my own decisions, I think that’s what sets me apart from my parents. Through this journey, I also learned the importance of individualism, and how although it takes effort to be your own individual, that’s what sets us all apart from one another.

One of my favorite quotes is from the famous poet, Robert Frost, where he says, “The best things and best people rise out of their separateness” This quote has quickly become a life mantra for me, to which I aspire to only become the best version of myself, and not a better version of another person.