23 August 2011

Something to ponder as the school year begins

Overheard as I passed a classroom last semester:
"God, I hate this. This class is so stupid..."
"What makes you say it's stupid?"
"It just is!"
"I've found that people often say a class -- or anything else, for that matter -- is stupid when in fact they are simply uncomfortable with the ideas being examined.

My job here -- the entire purpose of higher education -- is to challenge your comfortable life. To get you to think about the uncomfortable things in the world. And perhaps most important of all, to help you develop a mind that is open to all the conceivable possibilities. Because if you're not open to all the possibilities, you'll never understand the questions, let alone find the answers."
Dedicated with deepest respect, love and appreciation to every teacher, every professor, that made me think about the uncomfortable things.

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