The Brightest Person in the Room · 18 March 2023
I am always the brightest person in the room… Until somebody else walks in.
You know people who are the brightest people in the room. Who are always the brightest people in the room. No matter who else is in the room, those people are the brightest. And if all those brightest people in the room happen to be together, you still know somebody who is the brightest of the bright. I am not that person. In fact, I am only the brightest person in any room until somebody else walks in.
I do not say this in false modesty or because I want pity. In reality, I wish I was saying it in false modesty. But I know the truth. I know that there are lots of somebodies out there who are smarter than I will ever hope to be.
You might think this is self deprecation. And to some extent it is. After all, it must be since I tell my students that they should not think of me as the smartest person in the room even if I am the only adult there. After all, I have had so many students who are smarter than I have ever been. As a kid or even now.
Which is not to say that I have nothing to offer them. I offer my students a place where they can learn and grow. And I offer them my experience and hopefully a bit of wisdom.
Yes. Part of that wisdom is that we ought to be humble. But that is not really why I tell my students I am not as smart as they are. I let them know that I am not the brightest person because I want them to understand that I am human. That I make mistake. That I do not know everything.
Too many students think that their teachers are the fount of all knowledge. They think that their teachers are infallible. They think that their teachers are incapable of being corrected. And yes, some of those thoughts have been placed there by some of their teachers. But I do not think by most. I would think, I would hope, that most teachers let their students know that they are fallible and do not know it all.
But that is not really my point at all.
I am happy to only ever be the smartest person in the room until somebody else walks in. I am happy because it means that I can learn from anybody. And I do. I learn something from everybody. Maybe not directly, but I learn by observing and listening. I want to know what other people know. Which I do by observing and listening.
I do not know that I say much in my blog. Today or any day. But that is okay. After all, it is called Musings for a reason. And I suppose that I am done musing for today. I am done musing about being the brightest person in the room until somebody else walks in.
© 2023 Michael T. Miyoshi
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