Marino’s New York Times piece on wisdom of ‘do what you love’ wins award
St. Olaf College Professor of Philosophy Gordon Marino has been selected as a winner in the American Philosophical Association’s opinion-editorial contest for his New York Times piece “A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love.'”
Marino was one of five winners selected from among more than 70 submissions to the contest, which honors the “most publicly engaging philosophical work” of the year.
He wrote the piece for the Stone, a New York Times forum for contemporary philosophers and other thinkers to address issues both timely and timeless. In it, he addresses the wisdom of telling students to “do what you love.”
“Student advisees often come to my office, rubbing their hands together, furrowing their brows and asking me to walk along with them as they ponder life after graduation,” he writes.
“As an occupational counselor, my kneejerk reaction has always been, ‘What are you most passionate about?’ Sometimes I‘d even go into a sermonette about how it is important to distinguish between what we think we are supposed to love and what we really love,” he notes.
But, he asks readers, “is ‘do what you love’ wisdom or malarkey?”
Sometimes, he notes at the end of the piece, “we should do what we hate, or what most needs doing, and do it as best we can.”
Marino will receive his award for this piece at a reception in Washington, D.C., this January.
Marino is a nationally recognized sports journalist who regularly contributes to publications like the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and New York Times. In addition to his teaching and writing, Marino also serves as curator of the Howard and Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library and co-coaches the St. Olaf Boxing Club with Associate Professor of English Carlos Gallego.