Marie Jane Faderan’s pragmatic plan to become a doctor may be DOA, a casualty of her newly discovered passion for painting.

The Information Technology HS sophomore hasn’t mentioned the possible career change to her parents. “They think medicine is a career and art is a hobby,” says the 16-year-old from Woodside.

So did Marie Jane before artist and educator Jorge Luis Cordero called upon her and a handful of other students at the Long Island City school to create a mural of Marco Polo and the Silk Road.

Seven months after they began their nine-foot-tall by eight-foot-wide masterpiece, it was unveiled at the Marco Polo Ristorante in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, on May 21.

“I just stared,” says Ivon Ramirez, 15, who wants to be a police officer — a police officer who paints, that is — when she grows up. “I was shocked and proud that five students were able to accomplish something so big.”

As was her teacher, who inspired his students — most of whom were doodlers-when-bored before becoming artists — to delve into the painting techniques, as well as the politics, history, art and philosophy of Marco Polo’s time.

Cordero welcomed their increasingly educated opinions. For one, they preferred the light-filled colors of the Renaissance period over the flat, dark colors of the medieval period of Marco Polo. For another, they didn’t want to portray Marco Polo as an old man, but they loved the lush, silk robes he wore when grizzled and rich, so they painted a fresh-faced explorer wearing his resplendent rich man’s robes.

The kids were tasked with mixing colors to get the most Renaissance-perfect hues. Then, they painted Marco Polo, Kubla Khan, a map of the Venice canal and the Silk Road directly onto the giant canvas.

“It’s so hard to mix color because it has to be exact, but when you get it right, it’s like magic,” said Marie Jane.

Their teacher was stunned by the finished mural.

“As is quite natural, the kids took over the project and made it their own,” says Cordero. “I was so impressed with their research, dedication and teamwork. They are artists.”

The owner of the eatery agrees. “He told me,” Cordero reports, “that he has his coffee in front of the mural every day before opening.”