What are your passion(s)?

[Ian Curtis]

Since I wrote this I've asked a number of people this question, and been genuinely surprised by the percentage of lofty responses I've received. I was expecting to get objects or trades in response, like "I'm really passionate about vintage airplanes" or "I'm crazy about ballet" or "I really love the elegance of mathematics." Instead I've gotten a lot of responses about "inspiring youth" or "changing the world", and it isn't just limited to FIRSTers.

But I'm left wondering -- all of the best mentors (be they professional or amateur) had an infectious enthusiasm about something real. They obviously love teaching, but Mr. McCartney is absolutely nuts about Medieval England, Mr. Sid* is enthusiastic almost beyond belief when he teaches the proof of e^(i*theta)=cos(theta)+i*sin(theta), and Karl is willing to build and fly airplanes designed by people with really no idea what they were doing.

Is there a difference between these two themes? Are passions about teaching and passions about objects or trades both passions on the same level? Or is there another word for this seemingly universal desire to inspire and teach the next generation (not that that's a bad thing!)? And if teaching is your one true passion -- how do you get your future students excited about learning and the future without a particular "vehicle" that really gets you, the mentor, going?

Just talking out loud here, very interested as to what other people have to say.

*the lecture where we learned that functions didn't have to be just numbers with f(x)=(x's Mom) was unintentionally hilarious... but I still remember the definition of a function!