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?