Hello readers,
Amherst College hosted its 10th annual LitFest from Friday, February 28th to Sunday, March 2nd! LitFest is a literary festival celebrating fiction, nonfiction, poetry, spoken-word performance, and Amherst College’s literary life. As you can tell by the title, Anthony Fauci (director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic) was a guest speaker at the event! We also had Award-winning author Teju Cole, Pulitzer Prize winner Brandon Som, and Paisley Rekdal as guest speakers at LitFest. There was even a special panel on the making of American Fiction with writer and director Cord Jefferson, lead actor Jeffrey Wright ’87, and Percival Everett, author of Erasure (the novel on which the film is based).
Obviously, I attended. Alums, families of current students, professors, and my peers also attended LitFest. Most were able to get tickets to the events they wanted to attend. Tickets are free; sign-ups were emailed to students, faculty, alums, and families in January. I gained so many new insights from Lit Fest and loved seeing everyone so invested in literature and writing down questions for the guest speakers. From Teju Cole, I learned that redirection may seem scary, but it is sometimes for the best. Teju Cole dropped out–or as he calls it, “left”–medical school in his second year after realizing that his passion lay in literature. He decided to follow his passions and made a successful, and more importantly, enjoyable career out of it. As a college student, this truly resonated with me. Like many of you reading the blog, we all have things we are passionate about. Even if it is an entirely different path than what we–or even our parents–envisioned for ourselves, something is waiting for you. During your time at Amherst, I hope you explore all the classes you can, join new clubs, and maximize the open curriculum. If you feel even the slightest spark or an inclination of curiosity towards an activity or topic, follow that spark/inclination. I’ve been passionate about being a pediatrician for some time now, but it’s slowly starting to shift. I’m learning that I love writing and teaching just as much as I love taking care of others. I don’t love conducting experiments in the lab as much as I thought I did. But, I have loved writing these blogs and formulating proofs in math.
Dr. Fauci corroborated the lesson I learned from Teju Cole. When a member of the audience questioned the future of public health and whether it was worth it for students to pursue it, Dr. Fauci told them to sketch a pro/con chart. He declared that passionate students would find that the pros would far outweigh the cons. He shared stories of his early childhood, career path, noble motivations for a career in public health and policy. Despite receiving hate, Dr. Fauci noted that his morals motivated his actions. Even though it was hard to go against public opinion or political figures, he felt it was right to prioritize collective health.
As an incoming Mammoth, you should look forward to LitFest next year. Gaining insights from powerful speakers can shift your perspective on the world and yourself. You may even be able to network with attending alums; my friends were offered a literary internship by an alumni in the audience! Also, note that you don’t have to major in humanities to attend LitFest. Everyone is welcome! LitFest has convinced me to explore career options outside of medical school and find something I am so passionate about that the pros far outshine any lingering cons.
If you have any questions, reach out to me at ipatel28@amherst.edu!