When I was in college, I was so focused on getting into a MD/PhD program, I didn't have time to live deliberately. I focused on my academic and social life. If you'd asked me then what I'd be doing now, I would have had a lot to say about my career as a molecular biologist. It never would have occurred to me to tell you about how I would actually live — how I would make all those seemingly unimportant daily decisions we all have to make, particularly those of us who live outside the comfortable confines of a college campus.
As it turned out, I didn't become a molecular biologist. After four years of management consulting, I had a crisis of being. Although I had never given much thought to the larger ramifications of working 80 hours a week to make Fortune 100 companies more profitable, I sensed it wasn't the best longterm use of my talents. It was a great experience but wasn't a calling. And it certainly wasn't going to leave much of a social footprint. I quit and founded a nonprofit organization that establishes and runs college-prep boarding schools for inner-city children. Every year, we send more and more formerly at-risk kids to college and, hopefully, onto better lives. It's powerful stuff, but it's not what I mean by living deliberately.
Obviously, what I do for a living influences my lifestyle — where I live, how much money I make, the kind of people I meet — but it doesn't dictate how I live. In fact, my professional life provides very little guidance about how to make those thousands of daily decisions that eventually add up to define who I am. My job brought me to Washington D.C., but it didn't tell me whether to buy a bigger house in the suburbs or a smaller apartment in the District. My nonprofit salary surely influenced the kind of car I could buy, but it didn't help me decide between an SUV and the Civic Hybrid I eventually bought. My job doesn't inform my positions on organic produce, cage-free chickens, cruelty-free cleaning products, small businesses, public transportation, recycling or local government. Yet, everyday I have to decide what to eat, where to shop, whether to take the bus or drive, whether to seek out a recycling can or just throw whatever it is in the trash. How do I make these decisions? You guessed it — deliberately.
Don't get me wrong. It's not that I carefully weigh the greater impact of every extra minute in the shower and every cup of Starbucks coffee. That would be debilitating and prevent me from doing the kind of work that has a real shot at making this world a better place. Like everyone else, I rely heavily on habit and circumstance to decide the daily details, but I've tried to ensure that most of my habits conform to my principles and ask for other options if the circumstances don't present me with good ones. In other words, I think about my most important daily decisions — whether to drive, walk or take public transportation to work; where and what types of food to eat; whether to buy groceries at the national chain or the family grocery; what to do with old clothes and used paper and soda cans — before I make them. And I use the power of my wallet, the power of voice and the power of example to send a message about what's important to me.
People often ask me why I decided to leave the business world and start a nonprofit that helps poor kids get a decent shot at life. The answer is simple: because I could. I believe most of us would be willing to do what we can, but we're so focused on achieving — passing the exam, getting into business school, getting the job, getting the promotion — that we don't have time and energy to think about what we could do to make the world a better place. But we must be more deliberate about the little things as well as the big things, for the stakes are higher than they at first appear. Those daily details add up to make us who we are, and have the power to affect all of those around us to think about who they are and what they can do.
Rajiv Vinnakota '93 majored in molecular biology and went on to found the nation's first public urban boarding school. He also serves on the University's Board of Trustees. He will be at Rockefeller College this evening to engage in a dinner discussion as part of the Princeton in the Nation's Service events.
Read More
It’s time to step it up on diversity and inclusion
Christofer RoblesOver the last five years, Princeton never achieved parity in diversity and inclusion for Black students. Now, the University faces a conservative culture and federal government hostile to anti-racism. Now, more than ever, Princeton cannot abandon its students.
Over the last five years, Princeton never achieved parity in diversity and inclusion for Black students. Now, the University faces a conservative culture and federal government hostile to anti-racism. Now, more than ever, Princeton cannot abandon its students.
Class of 2029: Reject selective views of free speech
Charlie Yale and Siyeon Lee"Let us make an appeal to the entire Class of 2029: You can care about viewpoint diversity and free expression even if you don’t read the Tory. As liberals and progressives, you can understand that free speech is an issue that affects everyone."
"Let us make an appeal to the entire Class of 2029: You can care about viewpoint diversity and free expression even if you don’t read the Tory. As liberals and progressives, you can understand that free speech is an issue that affects everyone."
For a more effective USG, train newly elected members on the bureaucracy
Luqmaan BambaFor student representatives to make the change we can through the systems we have, we need a more onboarding process that prepares us to navigate these byzantine processes.
For student representatives to make the change we can through the systems we have, we need a more onboarding process that prepares us to navigate these byzantine processes.