As a teacher, I’m a firm believer that smart is something you get. You can work hard, push your limits, read more books and become “smarter”. It’s one of the reasons that I push my students so hard- because I’m understanding that there’s always more knowledge for them to acquire, thereby making them more knowledgeable and smarter.
However, when I posed this question to my students last week, their answers differed from mine. This isn’t wholly surprising- I’m coming up on 30, and most of them are between the ages of 15-18; therefore our life experiences and thought patterns are different. Nevertheless, I was surprised at the number of students who believed that smart was something you are inherently; in the sense of, either you have it or you don’t. Quite the interesting mindset, to say the least.
So, I’m posing this question to you: Is “smart” something you ARE or something you get?
life beyond the well... 
March 14, 2012 at 10:26 am
Smart is something you get however it is who you ARE if it is truly inherited from our parents, which means they have placed a high value on the importance of an education! Growing up, it was important to my mother that I read different books, for me not so much. It was not until I became older and went through various experiences did I really understand the value of reading because it has helped me not to only become smarter but has aided me in my transition into working on being a better person.
January 13, 2013 at 7:36 pm
Smart is something we all are; however, we can we can improve our smartness as we acquire new knowledge. This is a complicated statement and can be taken either way depending on how it is delivered.