She almost became a doctor
One of the interesting facts about Frida Kahlo is she almost became a doctor. Frida Kahlo wasn't always interested in becoming an artist. She undoubtedly inherited her father's appreciation for beautiful art from a young age. She also had some sketching instruction from an engraving buddy of her father's. She also assists her father professionally by editing, developing, and coloring pictures. However, she views art more as a pastime.
Kahlo was admitted to the prestigious National Preparatory School in 1922 and concentrated on the natural sciences to become a doctor. With only 35 girls out of 2,000 students, the university had just lately started accepting women. She was a strong student and an avid reader, and she developed a "deeply ingrained and serious commitment to Mexican culture, political action, and concerns of social justice". Out of 2,000 applicants, she was one of the first 35 girls (16 years old) accepted into the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria. At the time, it was Mexico's top school time.
The school preached Indigenismo, a new concept of Mexican identity that was proud of its indigenous past and aimed to shake off the colonial idea that Mexico was inferior to Europe. Nine of Kahlo's schoolmates, with whom she established an informal group nicknamed the "Cachuchas," had a significant impact on her at this time. They performed pranks, put on plays, discussed philosophy, and argued Russian classics because they were disobedient and rejected the traditional ideals of Mexico's patriarchal and macho society. Many of them rose to prominence within Mexico's intellectual elite.
