As a student of STI and in order to graduate from my chosen program, I am required to take a two-credit course on Microsoft Office products which includes Excel, Word, Powerpoint, and Access. Prior to enrolling at STI and purchasing my Mac, I was a common PC user; I worked on various Windows versions throughout my career and also used Microsoft Office for many home-based projects. Although it had been many years since I had worked with MS Office, I was confident that I could “test out” of this class by using the summer break time to study for the exam.
First, I wrote out a calendar schedule, allowing a couple weeks for each MS product. Using my library access, I found many tutorials on Lynda libraries which also included exercise files I could download. I also found many free tutorials just by doing a Google search. During the last few weeks, I went through each of the “objectives” listing which was given to me by STI testing department and made notes for each objective. At lastly, I used STI’s VMware to access Excel, Powerpoint, Access, and Word to practice each objective. The night before the test, I reviewed and memorized my notes. On June 25th, I took the exam and passed with 98% proficiency.
Believe it or not, my reasoning for writing this blog entry is not to blow my own horn, but to discuss a mindset that, frankly, has frustrated me for years. A week before the exam, I confided to a family member that I had been very busy studying for the test and was a little apprehensive about not passing. Her response to me was, “You’re smart; you’ll pass it.” I absolutely understand that she truly meant this as a complement and that it was said to calm my doubts. However, it also made me wonder why the labels – “smart”, “dumb”, “beautiful” and “ugly” – that people impose on themselves or others seem more important or tangible than the “actions” or behavior of people. I didn’t pass the exam because I magically became “smart”; I passed the exam because I worked my butt off.
This situation also made me think about what people consider as “smart.” Howard Gardener was a psychologist and educator who defined nine types of intelligence: from “logical” which is what most people think of as intelligence … to “bodily-kinesthetic” which describes the brain-body connections of an athlete. A scholar needs to research his thesis, and an athlete must spend countless hours perfecting their sport. Why is it that most think of the definition of “smart” , as a some special ability that one possesses without any effort? With the exception of the rare prodigy, maybe “being smart” means doing one’s homework and being driven to achieve one’s goals.
