What is Intelligence really?

Life is complicated. For instance, The course of life can be changed with a simple click of a button now a-days. However, intelligence can be seen as the answer to life. Being smart helps you write a good resume, get into a high rated college, and be hired at a wonderful job that pays well. Thats the dream isn’t it? On the other hand, what is intelligence really? Well, intelligence isn’t all about having good grades in school.

Three rows back, left corner. I found myself sitting there day after day. When the teacher started talking, I could see more than half the class pull out their cell phones. I was among them. Don’t get me wrong, I worked hard in that class and made sure to ace all my tests.

“I graded all the tests last night for you guys,” the teacher stated as he passed out the tests. He handed me my test and I let out a sigh of relief. I got an A. Another A in my hand meant I was one step closer to graduating with a high GPA.

“Pst! Sydney!” Katie’s voice whispered from two seats over.

“What?”

“I got a C,” she whimpered, “My dad’s going to kill me.” The student sitting next to me had overheard our conversation.

“Wow. Are you stupid? This test was so easy!” the student said.

Those words still echo through my head today. I knew my friend Katie wasn’t stupid. She was very intelligent, but she struggled at that one subject.

Intelligence is problem solving. It is the student working hard not only to retain the information but to understand it. It is the ability to see a simple way of doing things. Intelligence is a small baby knowing how to feed off its mother's breast without being taught. It is the drive to deeper develope your passions and skills. It is simple. Being intelligent is a mechanic knowing how to change a tire, or a judge making a fair ruling. Intelligence is an infant learning how to control their hands and arms enough to figure out how to crawl. It is the student in the class asking all the “stupid” questions. The person at work, aiming to be the best possible employee is seen as intelligent. It is just the way of working to try to be the best in what one is good at. It is a process of development. Intelligence is only hard to find if you think it can be measured. Yes, some people show their intelligence more than others, but everyone is intelligent.

Intelligence is many things; on the contrary, there are a lot of things that aren’t considered intelligent.  While looking at someone, you can not see intelligence in their eyes. It is not something that can be held or shown at show-and-tell. In addition, even though many say intelligent people get high ACT scores, this doesn’t define intelligence either. It can not be measured with a percentage or even a ruler. It isn’t something lucky people are born with while others are not. It isn’t a student sleeping all through class and guessing his way through a test only to end up passing the class with a B. It isn’t the kid in the back of the class, staring at the clock, counting down the minutes until lunch time. Intelligence isn’t something that is just placed within people; it is the give and take to advance your strengths and push your weaknesses.  

Everyone is intelligent, just in his or her own way. For example, even though in our society serial killers are a disgrace, they are still intelligent. Serial killers are genius’ at knowing how to kill, and sometimes, even get away with it. It is just a matter of perspective. No one is a genius in all aspects of the word. Brilliant Albert Einstein, a well known inventor, once stated this simply: “Everyone is a genius. But, if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.” Similarly, this is like telling a history professor he isn’t intelligent because he doesn’t know how to construct a rocket. He is an intelligent man, just in the definition his job has created for him.

There are many different levels of intelligence and degrees of intelligence. Not everyone is intelligent in the concept of retaining information, which is all schools seem to measure. It can not be defined by grades at school or an ACT score. Intelligence is within everyone. It is the growth of strengths and weaknesses within a person. As a student in the school, I have seen first-hand that many people never get the chance to prove their area of intelligence. The school systems should work towards understanding that there are different types of intelligence, and not measure students’ success on how they score on standardized tests.