I remember a certain instance, where I met a certain man, with a certain type of intellect that certainly was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I was at the Galleria Mall in Dallas, Texas. It was a hot day in June, and I had never been so grateful for excessively large parking garages. Every ray of sunlight that crept through the opening of the complex touched my skin like intermittent drops of fire. Finally, I made it to the entrance, and as I took a step inside of the department store entrance, I let out a sigh of relief. “Good goodness of life, it’s gotta be over 100 degrees today.” I felt a presence to my left, and when I turned my head I met an old, and rather dirty, smiling face. He had to be at least 60, and once he noticed he had my attention, he spoke. “In reality, it’s only about 88 degrees, but there’s a reason why it feels so much hotter than what it actually is.” To say I was a little shocked was an understatement. Keep in mind that I’m staring at a person who looked more suitable to ask me for spare change. His clothes looked as though he bought them and had still been wearing them for at least 2-3 years. Sporting a hat from an era where moonshine was smuggled down backroads and big band jazz was all the rave, the last thing I expected him to start talking about was the weather. However for the next 5 minutes, he proceeded to theoretically blow my mind, describing in detail the concept of global warming, how the sun’s rays approach the atmosphere, and even how the earth’s tilt affects the seasons. What was even more alarming was that not once did he ever use improper grammar. If I could have closed my eyes, I would’ve thought I was listening to a dissertation on weather from a professor at Cal Tech. Alas, my eyes were wide open, and the man before me was nothing more than a decrepit figure who needed a bath and cup of coffee. I couldn’t help but wonder how someone who seemed so without, had so much. “Am I on some kind of TV show? Is Ashton Kutcher about to come from around the corner? How do you just know all of that?” Without any hesitation, the old man chuckled and responded solemnly. “I’m nothing more than one who loves to read. Reading is free after all.”
The way knowledge works is interesting and rather ironic. You grow up going through, elementary, middle, and high school, being told over and over that education is the key to everything and that’s it’s important to seek higher education (college). For 12 years we go to school 5 days a week, listening to lectures, doing countless homework assignments, and taking test after test after test. Then when you finish high school, parents and higher authorities push down your throat how important it is to go college and to get an education, because that’s how you’ll be successful in life. It gets interesting, because a majority of the kids that get to college end up stepping into a whirlwind of arbitrary electives, and sometimes even forget why they came there in the first place. Think about it: You step onto campus bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the collegiate world as an aspiring biology major. Three semesters later, you’re struggling to stay awake during an abnormal psychology lecture, because you got fed up with all the studying and lab assignments required for a biology major. In a way, you may have just went from bad to worse, but hey, don’t kill the messenger. That’s how it works for a lot of people in higher education. College is a constant chase to find that happy medium in between your first ever 8 a.m. lab and that all mighty diploma, that “light” at the end of the tunnel. You sort of just keep taking classes because you remember that society tells you that education is the key to success, that knowledge can be attained from going to college. It’s alright, you don’t have to lie to yourself, you know it to be true, because if you didn’t you wouldn’t be reading this article when you know you have a final to study for (just let it sink in). As adolescents, a majority of us are told that going to college is one of the most important decisions of our lives, an implication that there is a certain destination for knowledge.
I’m not an expert or anything, but knowledge is universal.
On paper, knowledge is defined as acts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. If you look at this definition more closely, you’ll see that it doesn’t say anything about going to a specific institute or reading a certain book. It’s not some hidden treasure that can be found in an abandoned temple in the hands of a skeleton. Knowledge isn’t an objective to be achieved, because even when you achieve a certain level of knowledge, there’s still more knowledge to be attained. Knowledge, in a sense, is an essence that can’t fully be described, but only continuously sought after. This is where a lot of people get lost, especially in school. They come to school believing college to be the final destination when it comes to education, when in reality, it’s barely the beginning. Knowledge is being able to read the defense before you take the snap with 30 seconds left in the 4th quarter. Knowledge is understanding that your teammate probably has the better shot and that you should probably pass the ball instead of shooting a wild 3 pointer. Knowledge is knowing that studying for your final is more important than hitting up the frat party. Knowledge is saving money in case of emergency. Knowledge is understanding that in the real world, not everyone is going to be so quick to give you a second chance. Knowledge is learning how to rise, after falling time and time again. Knowledge is keeping your mouth shut, even though you may have the ability to put someone in their place. Knowledge is accepting that even though you’re a Christian, it doesn’t mean the person standing next to you is, and being respectful of their beliefs. Knowledge is retaining information, whatever that information may be, and actually applying it to how you live, not just for that 8 a.m. chemistry final. Knowledge is more than just books, study guides, and IQ test results. Knowledge is living every day, and taking something from it. In the grand scheme of things, knowledge is all around you. Just ask the person standing next to you, because they might surprise you.
