Alright, let’s be real—finding your passion sounds like a big, life-changing task, right? Something that should just click one day like in the movies. But the truth? It’s not some destined moment where you suddenly realize, "OMG, I was born to do this!" Nope, it’s more like a science fair project.

You don’t just wake up knowing everything. You experiment, make mistakes, test out ideas, and slowly start figuring out what excites you. That’s exactly the way successful inventors invented things. So, if you're feeling lost about what you love or what you want to do with your project, don’t worry. This blueprint is your step-by-step guide to finding your passion—science fair style. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Get Curious – What Even Interests You?

Think of this as the brainstorming phase of your science project. You don’t start with all the answers; you start with questions.

• What do you do in your free time when no one is forcing you?

• What are you naturally drawn to? 

  • This could be certain books, videos, topics, or activities.

• What’s something you could talk about for hours without getting bored?

Write these things down. Even if they seem random—sports, coding, music, animals, space, business, or even making memes—everything is valid. This is about you, not what other people think is “cool” or “successful.” For example, sports might not be a category in science fair. But guess what? Software is, so design a unique method to analyze gameplay footage in your favorite sport! Learn to link your interests to available categories, and mix & match until you find the perfect fit.

I found my interest by going on Wikipedia and going down a rabbit hole. Moving from one page to the next, with no idea what I was looking for. And, eventually, I stumbled upon some topics I found interesting.

And if you don’t know yet? That’s totally okay. The next step will help with that.

Step 2: The Experiment – Try Stuff, Even If You Suck At It

Science fairs aren’t just about reading theories and literature reviews; they’re about doing stuff. Finding your passion works the same way. You won’t know if you love something unless you actually try it.

Here’s the rule: Pick at least three new things to test out. These can be anything from joining a club, trying a new class, starting a project, or even just watching YouTube tutorials on something that seems cool. Worst case, they’ll still provide educational value, and you might even mention them on your college application for some return on your time!

Let’s say you think coding is interesting. Don’t just think about it—try writing a simple program. Love biology? Research more about gaps in the current medical landscape, and chart solutions to these problems. Curious about chemistry? Experiment with different chemicals to see what works best for different use cases. The goal here isn’t to be perfect, but to get hands-on experience and see what feels right.

The last thing you want to do is commit your time to something that you aren’t interested in. If you do that, 2 things will happen:

1. You’ll waste your time doing something that you don’t like. Consequently, you won’t be interested in learning anything in that field, reducing your chance at success.

2. You’ll be primed to lose from the start. Nothing stings like wasting hours on boring research, only to lose at the regional/district level.

Instead, you want to take the time to discover your passion, so the time you spend is spent wisely and efficiently.

Step 3: The "Aha!" Moments – Notice What Feels Right

Not everything you try will be a hit, and that’s fine. In fact, it’s part of the process. Some experiments will fail, and that’s good information. Even if your hypothesis is proven wrong, that’s valid scientific data, since it warns future researchers to save resources and not follow your approach. Although not a direct solution, a hypothesis proven wrong will significantly help contribute to a solution in the future, impacting the world.

Here’s what to pay attention to:

• Do you lose track of time doing it?

• Do you feel excited even when it’s hard?

• Do you find yourself wanting to learn more, even outside of school/work?

When something checks these boxes, that’s a good sign! It means you’re onto something. Keep exploring that path and see where it leads.

For me, despite being super busy with other activities, I always made time for science — because it was fun.

Step 4: Connect the Dots – Look for Patterns

After testing out different things, you’ll start to notice patterns. Maybe you keep gravitating towards creative work. Or maybe you love problem-solving and strategy. Your passions aren’t always one thing—they can be a mix of interests that create something unique to you.

For example:

• If you love tech and AI, maybe leveraging AI to optimize current technology is intriguing.

• If you like helping people and science, maybe medicine or psychology is your thing.

• If you’re obsessed with numbers and strategy, maybe finance or data science is calling your name.

Look at what activities made you feel something, then see how they might connect to real opportunities.

Step 5: Keep Evolving – Your Passion Will Change

Here’s a secret: Your passion isn’t one fixed thing that you have to stick with forever. Just like in a science fair, you can update your project as you learn new things.

What excites you now might be different in five years—and that’s normal. The key is to stay curious and open to trying new things. Keep experimenting, and eventually, you’ll land on something that not only excites you but also fits into your future. 

Final Thoughts: Take the Pressure Off

Finding your passion isn’t about waking up one day with all the answers. It’s about testing, learning, and growing. Don’t stress if you haven’t figured it all out yet—most people haven’t! What matters is that you start exploring now.

So go ahead: start your “science fair” journey to finding your passion. Try new things, fail a little, learn a lot, and most importantly, have fun along the way. Because, trust me, when you do find something you love? It makes all the effort worth it.

Now, go experiment and discover what excites you!

Coming Up Next

In the next chapter, I’ll zoom in on how to isolate a topic from your passion. This way, you can concentrate your research into developing an improvement or a solution for an area with direct and relevant real-world problems. You’ll be able to see my thought process, and how I specifically honed in on combining my machine learning skills to develop a neural network that outperformed existing codon-optimization techniques. 

Remember, a great idea could be the start of a great research experience, opening pathways to internship and scholarship opportunities, and more importantly paving the road for direct improvements in our world.