I am different than most of my peers at Yale. I did not
matriculate with the perfect vocational goal or academic aspiration. I did not
have plans to found a non-profit or change the world through a capella. In
fact, I came in with a single goal that seemed achievable to the point of
guarantee: to learn.
While I have fulfilled this goal, it has not been as easy as
I planned or hoped, though I maybe one of a few who would claim so. Many of my classmates push
through course after course, semester after semester. They achieve
resume-worthy grades, but have not, I would argue, learned. I have found that
the way in which students use the internet hinders them from
truly learning. They are able to write history reports with ease and can translate
any language assignment in seconds, but in their ability to save time, they
lose the ability to grow intellectually. This is not to say that education and
the internet are incompatible, but I believe there is a way that the need for
immediate information and a desire for authentic intellectual grown can be
reconciled. Indeed, it is my goal to model this balance for my classmates for
the rest of my time at Yale and in my vocation, wherever it may be.
As an Architecture major, I have been forced to use the
internet in a healthy way. I use it to gather research: designs and drawings of
predecessors more learned than I. However, the majority of the work that I submit is hand-drawn or hand-crafted. I cannot paraphrase or copy what I find online.
To use an element that I admire, I must understand its context and then be able
to unite it with a product of my own creation. This approach has shown me the
beauty of the creative process, which I have since applied to all other
subjects.
While I do not have an ideal job market into which I desire
to enter post-graduation, I do have goals that I will seek to promote in my
work place. The first is satisfaction. No matter the position I am given, I
hope to convey a sense of respect for the work that I am doing, even and
especially if it does not utilize every skill that I possess. I believe that all work is valuable, and most of it necessary, but too often, I see friends and colleagues forget that their job is significant. They describe tasks that "a monkey could do" but only do so because they do not truly respect it. My second goal is
similar – to encourage an environment of integrity. In the work force as much
as in the academic world, it is crucial to think creatively and use the internet
(and all it offers) responsibly. The generations before us created ideas of
their own because it was more fulfilling, and perhaps easier, than riding on
the work of others. Research was laborious and innovation was widely practiced.
Today, instead of allowing the internet to supplement these tools, we have
allowed it to replace them. We have become comfortable navigating within its
territories, and we use it as our first resource when we seek an answer. In my
vocation, I will encourage my colleagues to seek the council of others. In my
short time at Yale, I have learned more from my fellow students than from any
textbook or website. Furthermore, I remember the information and testimonies they
give more vividly. While surfing the web can plant an idea, it cannot act as a
partner in a brainstorm. It mimics our thoughts and desires rather than
challenging them. Until we can learn to make relationships the center of our
academic and occupational environments, it will continue to stunt, rather than
enhance, our growth.
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