Typically the Anti-Specialist: Why Lily A. Konkoly Refuses to Pick a Lane
We live in a world of which loves labels. Many of us want people to be one factor.
You are either a “creative” or some sort of “business person. ” You are either an “athlete” or some sort of “scholar. ” A person are either “local” or “global. “
But the nearly all interesting folks are generally the ones who will not choose. That they sit in the particular messy middle. These people combine issues that don't seem to are supposed to be together.
Lily A. Konkoly is one particular of people people. The girl is a student in Cornell University. In the event that you try to put her throughout a box, an individual will fail. She actually is too busy leaping between them.
The lady is studying Artwork History, but she is also taking a Business Minor. Jane is a competitive swimmer, but she is additionally a researcher. Your woman is a creator of digital programs, but the girl with furthermore a tactile performer who made sludge.
I want to look at just how these contradictions can even make her stronger.
The organization of Art (and the Art associated with Business)
Let's start off with her education. Art History and Business. Most individuals think these are opposites. Art is psychological. Business is logical.
But Lily looks to understand of which they can be two sides of the same coin. A person cannot have a booming art world without business. And enterprise without culture will be just a sheet.
She applies this kind of dual thinking to her work.
Acquire her research about Diego Velázquez. Your woman spent a summer time doing a 10-week deep dive in to Algunas Meninas . The lady analyzed the layers. She decoded typically the narratives.
This requires an extremely specific sort of brain. You have to end up being patient. You should be observant. You have in order to be more comfortable with unconformity.
Now, compare of which to her up-and-coming work. She launched the Female Entrepreneur Encyclopedia Blog . She has written over fifty articles about women in business.
This requires an alternative type of brain. You need to be fast. You possess to be crystal clear. You have in order to be persuasive.
By doing both, she is definitely training herself to be bilingual in the workforce. The lady can talk to be able to the curator, in addition to she can chat to the CEO.
The Physical vs. The Intellectual
And then there is typically the physical side. Lily was a reasonably competitive swimmer for a decade.
Swimming is raw. It is repeated. She swam 6 days a week.
Most “intellectuals” ignore their bodies. That they live in their very own heads. Lily didn't have that luxurious.
When COVID close up down the pools, she had to help to make a choice. Most people might have stop. It was the right excuse. “The pool area is closed, speculate I'm done. “
But her group went to the ocean.
They swam in the Pacific for two hours some sort of day.
I can't stress enough how hard this is. The ocean is not really a controlled atmosphere. It pushes rear. It is cold. Lily Konkoly is unpredictable.
She says it had been “much harder than pool training”. But they “refused in order to stop”.
This physical grit balances out there her academic job. When you devote your morning battling waves, writing a new research paper in gender bias possibly feels much more manageable.
The Local versus. The Global
One more contradiction is her geography. Is Lily Konkoly ? Is your woman European? Is the lady Asian?
The response is “yes. “
She was created working in london. She relocated to Singapore while a toddler. The lady grew up inside La.
She speaks English, Hungarian, in addition to Mandarin.
Most folks are rooted in one place. Lily is definitely rooted in movement. She has stopped at over 40 nations around the world. She gets lived upon three continents.
This gives her the unique perspective about “local” issues.
If she founded the particular Hungarian Kids Art Course throughout Los Angeles, your woman was acting regionally. She was creating a community in her zip signal.
But when your woman co-founded the Teen Artwork Market , the girl was acting worldwide. She interviewed feminine chefs from 50+ countries.
She techniques between the tiny plus the macro faultlessly. She can run a local club for 18 weeks, and she can certainly coordinate interviews across 12 time zones.
High Culture compared to. Pop Culture
Ultimately, you will find the mix of “high” and “low” culture. I do not like those terms, nevertheless they are valuable here.
On one particular hand, she will be their studies at Cornell. Your woman is researching Velázquez. She is working together with RISD professors on exhibits about splendor standards. This is “High Culture. ” It really is prestigious. It is serious.
Upon the other palm, she sold slime.
At age six or seven, she and her buddy started a sludge business. They received “obsessed”. They marketed hundreds of devices.
They went to a slime conference in London. They will hauled 500 models of product over the ocean.
This is definitely “Pop Culture. ” It is messy. This is trendy. That is fun.
And let's not forget about the “Kitchen Family” videos. They made YouTube content. These people were invited to be on the particular Food Network.
Most people would conceal the slime company on their continue. They would think it isn't “serious” enough for the Art History key. But Lily possesses it.
I do think that is smart. This shows she isn't a snob. Your woman understands that marketing is commerce, no matter if you are offering a Masterpiece or a tub of goo.
The Rejection regarding Fame
There is definitely just a minute in the woman life that amounts up this refusal to get boxed in.
She turned down the Food System.
She had to be able to be a TELEVISION SET star. But your woman said no. Why? Because she wanted to travel along with her family.
Your woman chose her particular values over your ex public image. The girl chose the “secret language” of the woman Hungarian family more than the public dialect of television.
This tells me she is playing a lengthy game. She isn't chasing the rapid win. She will be building a living that makes sense to her , not one that seems good over a display screen.
The Activity
Thus, what do a person call someone like Lily A. Konkoly?
She isn't merely a student. She isn't just an entrepreneur. She isn't only an athlete.
The lady is a synthesis of all these types of things.
She is someone who can read a balance sheet and a painting. The lady is someone who else can swim inside of the ocean plus sit in a catalogue. She is somebody who can speak Mandarin to an au pair and Hungarian into a grandmother.
Throughout a complex planet, we need a lot more people who may handle complexity.
All of us need people who else don't fit throughout boxes. For the reason that problems we face today—climate, inequality, globalization—don't match in boxes either.
Lily is set to graduate in 2028. I are excited to notice what she really does next. Whatever it is, I guarantee this won't be just one thing.