Book Smarts Vs. Street Smarts

Intelligence Vs. Education
Logic and common sense

I’d rather have street smarts, intelligence, logic and common sense. Yes, people go to school to get educated, get all these fancy degrees and all that, gain knowledge about mathematics, science, biology, English, and other subjects, people have this perception that if they do not earn high marks in school that they are not smart or anything, and then lose all the confidence in the world to try to prove a point. To me, those numbers mean nothing. Every person has their own ways of learning and at their own pace. Each person is great at something. What I look for in an individual is that they have intelligence, the know-how, common sense and logic in reality. Those are the most important things in life. Not a number. being book smart doesn’t determine if you are street smart. That must come within yourself and of course from the teachings of your past teachers, teachers assistants, family and friends.

I am not saying that book smart people don’t have the intelligence and common sense, and all that. That is not my intention to say that at all.

I went to grade school, high school and college, and my biggest strength was English class, social studies, civics, writing and reading. I did bring high marks and excelled in that above the 90’s. Other subjects did not seem to get me motivated to learn it.

A lot of people knew I had it in me to write and there were a few teachers I had that said, “Talin, you will go places in your life with your writing, creative writing”. She also stated “Talin, I know in my heart that you will make a difference in this world, do not worry about others who have bullied you emotionally and mentally”. Do what you love doing and do not worry about trying to prove a point with bringing high marks”.

Now, look where it is has got me. I have almost 2, 500,000 followers of my writings, my blog site worldwide in all of social media combined, University Professors from the US are using my words and my craft to use in their lectures and more. I’d rather make a difference in the world, use logic, common sense than having those fancy/schmancy degrees and trying to boast, and impress people, but it is not good to brag to people constantly about it.

Academics VS Life and Personality

In our lifetime, some people respect others a lot due to their academic, education standards in which they bring top marks all the time, being straight A Students, bringing over 90-95 or more average in their report cards, however many people misconstrued intelligence with education/academic standards. Yes being educated in the books and the class is a key component to life, but academics should not be everything in life. — The most important thing about life is to have a great personality, be a sociable person, developing people skills, having street smarts, to be thoughtful, and not always revolving your life with academics.

Everything has a limit, but some people go way overboard about it when it comes to education. Never confuse education with intelligence. A lot of people seem to be doing that. Some people do not even look at you if you do not have top notch degrees, PHD, and high academic standards and that is so wrong. Somebody who has struggled in school or did not become as successful are always looked down and treated like they do not know better than the above average person and that is so wrong. Nobody is better than the other person just because their academic standards are a lot higher than anybody else.

Some people do not even look at a person because of that and it is not only wrong, but very insulting. A lot of people become successful even without high grades in education. People spend thousands of dollars, take out student loans and so many things to get a top notch education, studies, exams and whatever else and then when it comes time to look for employment after graduation, people end up working in retail and fast food places where it is totally different than what they were anticipating and that is just terrible.

People who work for retail, fast food places, and other occupations, doesn’t make it any better than those who are in high places.

I am all for education and everything, but that should not be everything. When you think about it, having people and actual life skills are the most important things in life and should be a priority more than anything else in life. A lot of people go to school for so many years after high school to become something, to venture out, make big bucks and stuff, but the key to life is to be a people person more than anything else.

Yes school teaches us a lot about life, struggles, hard work and determination to get up there, but that should not be everything. Those who are highly educated should not belittle, look down at everybody else, brag so much about their academic journey and make the rest of the people look and feel bad about themselves. That is not good. I mean yes, its a good thing to tell people your good news and everything, but there is a limit, and people go way overboard about it. Not a good trait to develop.

People skills, communication is far more important than what a piece of paper says about our academic journey through life. Think about it.