Just overheard a conversation at late night between two Stanford students that revolved around the idea that being bad at math is the equivalent of being stupid. I was surprised that here at Stanford people fail to recognize that there are many different types of intelligence and that ones ability in one subject is not indicative of their intelligence. Additionally, they failed to consider how diverse Stanford is in terms of the life experiences that its students have had, which includes the types of education systems that weve all been through, which are all influenced by the types of communities from which we come and the resources and opportunities that were available there. Not every student here comes from high schools that had or could afford classes, tutors or books available for every subject. Regardless of whether or not they were aware of these factors, given that Stanford is such an elite university, I would think that people would realize that the people surrounding them are all quite intelligent, even if its not in a way that they recognize. Which led me to think, shouldnt that be an opportunity for students to learn from one another rather than immediately deem someone else inferior in any way? I would hope thats the outlook we would all have during our time here at Stanford. Thus ends my first Facebook rant. Chalk it up to being a jaded senior, week 9 struggs or whatever you want. Im going to chalk it up to common sense and a hope that the people who see this will take a moment to appreciate the people around them and the many different talents and skills they possess and nurture.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 09:02:30 +0000