Recently I have been exposed to this new concept called the "heroic mind," which was brought to my attention in one of my communications classes. We were assigned to read this lengthy convocation speech made by a man named Giambattista Vico in the 1700's. I know it sounds incredibly boring, and yes it was written in that strange, complex older english that none of us like to read, but this speech happened to be extremely relevant to everyone in all aspects of life. Essentially Vico says that the heroic mind can obtained by anyone, but we must surpass our basic human capabilities and delve into the complexities of our mind. Since this was a convocation speech at the University of Naples that was directed toward incoming freshman to the university, Vico basis his speech around a university education. He says that if we as college students will simply attend all of our lectures and truly absorb the information being taught to us in every class then we can begin to embody the heroic mind. We should not be focusing on fame or fortune because that will come later in life if we gain all of the knowledge while we can. The heroic mind does not make us a different person, but more so perfects our being for the betterment of society.

Almost every important historical person like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Alexander Hamilton and hundreds of others embody the heroic mind. Anyone who can take all of the knowledge they have obtained throughout their academic career or in their day to day life and put it to beneficial use for our society has accomplished the heroic mind. After reading this speech, I have become completely motivated to sincerely learn in all of my classes rather than having closed off mind in my classes. Some of the most pointless classes college students must take are general education classes, but little do we recognize that these are come of the most beneficial courses to our common knowledge. We should always keep our minds open to all types of knowledge because you will never know what you need to use in the future, or even what could be a hidden specialty of ours. How will we truly know our passions if we do not try out a variety of subjects?

I want to challenge everyone out in the world to achieve this concept of a heroic mind. Rather you be a freshman in college, a grown adult with a family of five, or anyone at any place in your life because it is never to late to challenge our minds. You never know when humanity will come knocking at your door for your intelligence and services to fulfill your purpose in life. Strive to perfect beings so we can live for a bigger purpose than ourselves in this fascinating world.