On the Importance of Having a Student’s Mindset…

Hey guys!

Tonight I’m going to talk to you a little about a particular modern stereotype that has my head in a little bit of a tiff and it’s this:

Most people today don’t know how to be students and always be open to learning new things.

*** Now of course, as with anything, there is a certain percentage of people who are an exception, but I am speaking to the majority here. ***

Now that that’s clarified: y’all, we don’t know how to learn! I don’t know about you, but my mindset is usually one of “I know it all or I’ll fake it ’til I make it”. But in reality, it should be “I know some of it but I gotta look that up…”

I think the main reason I even thought about writing this post was because of something my chem professor (who happens to be one of the aforementioned exceptions) said over a month ago, and I’ve been mulling over in my brain for sometime now.

What he said: “You should always be a student, you should always be learning and open to learning and making new connections.”

What my brain thinks he said: Don’t put God in a box, don’t put learning in a box, don’t put chemistry in a box. You should always be learning – always be thinking about chemistry, always making new connections. Your life is a university, the world is your classroom. Learn in it all the time as though learning was breathing air.

Ok, so my brain spiced up his actual words quite a bit and added a twist. But so much truth was found in his simple words, and they hit deep because often, we (or at the very least, I) compartmentalize everything in an Ecclesiastes-style schedule- a time for shopping, a time for working, a time for sleeping, a time for showering, a time for hanging with friends, a time for laughing, a time for having a mental breakdown, a time for learning…(brownie points to anyone who can name – in the comments – the Byrds’ song about this very mindset – but I digress…)

When in reality “a time for learning” should be all the time just as it’s always a time for loving, caring, giving, eating, etc. Learning should be second nature – like an innate character quality that isn’t hindered by the passage of time or other such obstacles.

So, from now on, I suppose I will do my best to view things with a more open, and less defensive mindset, and I will do my best not to be as arrogant in my lack of knowledge as I have been before.