Balancing Act: When to Trust Your Gut 

As graduate students at Newhouse, we navigate a constant tension between what we think we should do and what we want to do. The pressure to make the “right” career moves can be overwhelming, with professors, peers and industry professionals all offering their versions of the ideal path forward. Yet sometimes, the most powerful guidance comes from within. 

The Science Behind Gut Feelings 

What we call “gut feelings” aren’t just random hunches. As journalist Bianca Nogrady writes in “Go with your gut: the science and psychology behind our sense of intuition” for The Guardian, research shows that our intuition is actually our brain processing years of accumulated experiences and patterns at lightning speed. When something feels “off” about a job opportunity or “right” about a creative direction, that’s your neural network making connections you might not consciously recognize, applying past learnings to inform present decisions, she writes.

My Experience 

I experienced this firsthand when considering law school. Everything looked perfect on paper – I took the LSAT, applied to schools and got accepted. Then something inside me shut down. It wasn’t nerves or fear; I had simply sold myself a version of myself as a lawyer that didn’t align with my reality. While I haven’t abandoned that dream entirely, my current program allows me to attend law classes while pursuing a path that feels authentically mine. This experience taught me to trust myself and trust what my body is telling me (it’s really smart!).  

Inexplicable Inner Imperative 

I found validation for this intuitive approach in Bill Watterson’s 1990 Kenyon College commencement speech, “Some Thoughts on the Real World by One Who Glimpsed It and Fled.” He described painting Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” on his dorm room ceiling, saying, “The painting lent an air of cosmic grandeur to my room, and it seemed to put life into a larger perspective.”

Despite its apparent futility, this project, born from an “inexplicable inner imperative,” became one of his fondest memories. Like Watterson’s pull to paint on his dorm room wall, we often receive inner guidance that defies immediate logical explanation. 

Finding Your Balance 

The real challenge isn’t choosing between ambition and intuition – it’s harmonizing them. This might mean accepting a prestigious internship but approaching it in alignment with your values or choosing a less conventional opportunity and finding ways to make it serve your larger goals. 

For me, the journey required humility. I dreaded telling everyone that I was deviating from my long-declared path. But here’s what I discovered: no one cared as much as I feared. Now I feel both freer and more grounded in my choices. 

Moving Forward 

As you navigate your choices at Newhouse and beyond, remember that your gut isn’t trying to sabotage your success – it’s trying to help you define what success means for you. Sometimes the most ambitious thing you can do is trust yourself enough to forge your own path. 

The next time you’re faced with a difficult decision, try this: write down all the logical pros and cons, then sit quietly and notice how each option feels in your body. Does one create tension while the other brings relief? Does excitement outweigh anxiety, or vice versa? These physical sensations are data, too – different from but no less valid than the metrics on a spreadsheet. 

Your time at Newhouse is about more than just building your resume. It’s about developing the wisdom to know when to push forward with determination and when to pause and listen to that quiet voice within. And remember, you are doing the best you can.