My artifact that has really impacted me and my academic career, is the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This book can be controversial with Rand’s extreme promotion of individualism, what I admire the most about her is her ability to go against the grain and bring up points no one else wants to mention or talk about. This book was able to show me how important it is to look at all sides, and that being an individual and taking care of what you need mentally is extremely important. Also I love this famous quote in the novel. “I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”   This quote reminds me how important it is to take care of myself first, so I am later able to help others. This reflects my love of going outside the box, and learning from every thinker not just the ones everyone agrees with. To really academically be well rounded a student must look for an education even in the most unlikeliest of places.  This book is really important to me because it was the start of my education outside of class, I picked this up Sophomore year of high school and have been inspired by it ever since.