September 19, 2006

Smart does not equal Intellectual

Vet schools are really good at getting "smart" kids to come join in. Good ACT, good SAT, good college grades, good GRE score, good writing skills for the entrance essays--impressive enough to convince college professors to write good recommendations. These kids are pretty much really smart (then there's a few like me that were good at convincing people that they were smart, but really, they were just good students. There's a difference). However, being smart is not synonymous with being intellectual. Something I miss in many (not all) of my classmates (future collegues) is a certain maturity that comes from self-reflection, reflection on the world around them, innate curiosity, interest in things they're not good at as well as those they are good at, genuine care for things like history, literature, politics, the environment, epicurean endeavors, art, and so on. And most of all, discussion--real conversations about these kinds of things.

4 comments:

Brinton said...

At least you have the animals in common... There are many different kinds of intelligence, and you've taught me something. I was always the smart kind who wasn't such a good student, at least in college. You've made me realize tht among the good students there many different ways of approaching life, and of approaching academics, and sometimes there are interesting variations based on how the two things relate to each other. For instance, most of the "smart people" I know [i]are[/i] the ones who are interested in life and living, in the arts, politics, epicureanism, etc. It was the good students who were less apt to be so. You seem to be facing the reverse.

Anonymous said...

I dont think you can correlate either "smart" or "good student" with interest in life. Define smart, good student, interest in life; or for that matter, life. Everything falls apart.
Live love.

Mick Jeffries said...

the way I see it, if what you say is true, you'll be raising the bar dramatically!

Really, yo — the world is ready for a tribal dance veterinary clinic!

Mick Jeffries said...

by the way, the other day I was at Wild Oats with Lucy and she noticed a product in the bulk aisle: Supernatural Granola. Y'know what I'm talkin' 'bout... some-a that spooky-ass floatin-in-the-air, lightning-outta-the-clusters granola.

......Is what I'm talkin' about.