HORRIFIED LOOKS FROM EVERYONE IN THE ROOM: MY PURSUIT OF WRITING

Society has introduced STEM as the “superior field” — of course, this is rarely mentioned explicitly.

- By RENEA VALDEZ

But parents expect their children to sketch blueprints and construct skylines in the capacity of an engineer, don scrubs to heal and suture in the world of nursing or medicine, preside over courtrooms to plead cases in the practice of law, or climb the corporate ladder through balance sheets in accounting. STEM is seen as the practical track that offers employability and financial promise, qualities that satisfy family expectations.

Then there’s me. “I want to be a writer!” I declare, my slight hesitation quickly drowned out by a surge of inner pride and excitement — and sure enough, horrified looks from everyone in the room meet my gaze. The air’s silence surely denotes a mix of shock, perplexity and disbelief, as if I’ve just announced my intention to count the stars. Who would have expected that from a

In a typical Asian household, you become a doctor, an architect, an engineer, or a disappointment. I chose to be none.

grade school student who had a keen interest in human anatomy, aspiring once to say “Scalpel...” in an O.R., who eventually strode towards the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics strand in senior high school, I would be a woman of the humanities?