Where Passion Grows

By Mariana C.

Reading might just be a hobby for some people, but for Yerba Buena High School junior, Tomi Tran, it’s more than that. It’s a way for Tran to improve himself.

Tran has read books throughout his whole life, however he just recently discovered the wonder of psychology and philosophy books. At first, reading was just a way to pass time for Tran whether it was on bike rides or at home, until he found a passion for psychology.

“I think there was a time where I didn’t understand myself or why I was doing things.” said Tran, “So when I kinda learned the process behind it, it really interested me.”

Psychology books tend to cover emotions, personality, and much more, and when reading them, they help you understand both yourself and the people around you. And this is exactly what Tran needed,

“There was this one book that I read last year and it was a book for teenagers about how to improve your life and I was in a hard spot at that time so reading that book really helped me grow a lot.” Tran said

As a freshman, Tran didn’t have the best year. He struggled with self-esteem as being picked on for being very skinny coming out of quarantine got the best of him, he said. However, he eventually picked himself up and grew a liking to exercising.

  “I started exercising last year in summer.” said Tran, “When I first started I was always talking about it with my friends, I was pretty passionate, it was like a cool thing I could talk about with my friends.”

When Tran started to exercise last summer, he quickly grew fond of it. Although it started as a way to change for other people, soon enough Tran decided he was doing it for himself and himself only. 

Tran said, “The reason why I started doing it was basically people just making fun of me for kinda just me, right? But every time I realized it was fun doing it and it made me feel a lot more confident and healthy.” 

Tran’s newfound passion for exercising combined with his passion for reading meant great things for him.

“I learnt that there's always room for improvement and I should take control of my life.” said Tran

Due to this development, he was able to plan out his future more precisely. 

With plans to move out of the states,“I'm probably going to go to a more rural area, like far away.” Tran said, “Like maybe nature or like a farm, cause I don’t like city life.” 

Not just that, Tran wants to study psychology and eventually become a psychiatrist or therapist. It seems like he has his future pretty well planned out. 

“I kinda just wanna be a strong person for myself and whenever I do get a wife and kids I wanna be a good father. Like a good man basically.” said Tran

Thanks to reading, Tran was able to discover awe-inspiring things about life. He hopes to continue growing into an even better person, a better friend, and a better son.