Maya Shankar & The Hero's Journey

For many years, Maya Shankar thought she would spend the rest of her life as a concert violinist. At the beginning of her story, this is her...

• assistance

• call to adventure

• status quo

• departure

• obstacle

While playing her violin, Maya injured a tendon in one of her fingers. Eventually, her doctors told her she needed to stop playing completely. This news would change the course of her life. This is Maya's...

• status quo

• call to adventure

• assistance

• treasure

• obstacle

Maya got a job with the Obama administration after sending the email equivalent of a cold call. She had learned the value of the cold call from her mother. This is an example of...

• status quo

• departure

• treasure

• assistance

• obstacle

Maya left New York to stay with her parents in Connecticut. This is an example of...

• crisis

• departure

• assistance

• treasure

• obstacle

Maya was a student of one of the greatest living violinists. Then learned she can never play again before finding herself cleaning her parents' basement. She was at her lowest point. She was literally underground. She is in...

• result

• trials

• approach

• treasure

• crisis

The book she found in her parents' basement helped Maya decide on a new path in life. The book is an example of...

• crisis

• departure

• assistance

• obstacle

• treasure

Maya sees the violin as "one of the great blessings" of her life because it taught her what it is like to be passionate about something. The violin is an example of...

• crisis

• treasure

• assistance

• departure

• obstacle

As a ......................... of reading the book she found in her parents' basement, Maya begins studying behavioral science.

• return

• departure

• result

• new life

• approach

After getting her Ph.D. and completing a post-doctoral fellowship, Maya started a .................................. as a scientist.

• result

• departure

• return

• new life

• approach

Maya's current ..................................... is scientific, not musical. She currently works as Google’s Global Director of Behavioral Economics.

• result

• assistance

• status quo

• resolution

• return