The Write Stuff: Mastering Ambidexterity in Pursuit of Passion
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On May 12, 2022 on the way home from my high school senior picnic, I got into a car accident. Due to the impact of the accident, I tore the ulnar collateral ligament in my right hand, which is the tendon that connects your thumb to your wrist. I had surgery to repair it, but to make a long story short, my dominant hand was out of use from May 12 until about the end of August of my freshman year.
During my recovery, I was hanging out with my best friend, Ashleigh. Aside from being the best person I know, Ashleigh is a genius. She is in her third year at Georgia Tech studying biochemistry. In her free time during her freshman year of college, she broke the record for “the world's longest hopscotch” (although it was broken again by people in Colorado), and she used her 2022 summer to intern for a surgeon at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at the age of 19.
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While watching “Little Women” (2019), Ashleigh told me about Louisa May Alcott, the author. She said that Alcott learned to be ambidextrous so that when her dominant hand would get tired she could continue to write. This gave her the idea that she shared with me: Find what you’re willing to become ambidextrous for. Now, when Ashleigh told me I should find something to become ambidextrous for, I was confused. I did not understand why I should learn to write with my non-dominant hand in the short time of my recovery, it was only temporary. She had to explain to me that she did not mean I would literally have to learn to write with my non-dominant hand. She just meant to find something I am so passionate about doing that I am willing to sacrifice for it, and maybe even learn to do new things just to continue doing it.
From a young age, I am sure we were all constantly asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and my answers always changed. I have always felt this immense pressure from myself to do something that would leave a lasting impact on the world. As Louisa May Alcott said, “I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all someday.”
I am still on the watch for my thing, but that is okay. None of us should settle for anything less than something we are so passionate about that we can not help but become ambidextrous. And, no matter how much we may feel it, there is no pressure on a timeline for when we need to figure out what we want to do.
Ashleigh, and ironically my car accident, both helped me understand that going into college with no idea what I wanted to do was not something to be scared of, but an opportunity. I get to try a bunch of new things before I find my niche.
I mean Danny DeVito was a hairdresser before acting, Harry Styles worked at a bakery before singing, and even Louisa May Alcott was a nurse and a teacher before she found her true passion and became a writer.
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It's comforting to know that we are all just as confused and lost as one another, and eventually, we will all find something to become ambidextrous for. Learning is nothing to be afraid of, only an opportunity to grow. Louisa May Alcott put it best, “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
Strike Out,
Blake Witmer
Editor: Caroline Kostuch
Athens