CAN EXPOSURE SERIOUSLY DAMAGE NARROW-MINDEDNESS IN STUDENTS?

Over the years the epidemic of narrow-mindedness has affected or rather infected a very large proportion of the world’s population. If right now I was to walk to anyone and ask them a simple question such as is 1+1 ALWAYS equal to 2? I wonder what answers they’d give me.

Mathematically 1+1=2 but broadminded people will tell you that this isn’t ALWAYS the case. In an article I recently read on LinkedIn pulse, the writer proceeds to say that; when two likeminded people work together then 1+1>2 and when two people who aren’t emotionally and intellectually bonded work together then 1+1 <_2. See?

They say people are shallow and ignorant until they go out and face the world? Well, I on the other hand, went out and in comparison realized I was in pretty good standing. There are those that are way worse. Let’s face it, before most of us joined campus we had been told all sorts of stories that our academic life would be a walk over. Personally, I was toldthat there would be no need to struggle too hard and burn midnight oil in the library in pursuit for good grades. Stealing exams and copy pasting assignments or rather what many refer to as “degree ni harambee” would help me despite not working hard, graduate with respectable honours. For a long time I was a believer of this bigoted opinion. I admit I nevertook a moment to explore this labyrinth of dark passage nor find out what lied behind the doorways of struggle that were sealed by the narrow minded people who came up with such a solution to success. This type of ignorance has infected many pre-graduate students to an extent that the degree is fast losing its valuable meaning. Still wondering why most jobs list 5years of experience and probably a masters degree as part of requirements? I bet you’re thinking widely!

Even as I joined high school, I was made to believe that my co-purpose in school was to study hard and get straight As in all my subjects. I got to form 1 knowing that if I didn’t pass all my subjects then I was a failure. I was stuck with that narrow-mindedness of either I succeed or give up, either I do or die, either I go forward or backward. The narrow alley between the two opposites is where I stood. If you also faced this kind of challenge then you understand that we worked incredibly hard to find the fastest, easiest and most sufficient way to secure a spot in a university. The strength was in the struggle and this would most of the time result in swotting.

We will agree that most students are yet to understand what really is the foundation and key requirements for their careers. I have observed this in the past year I’ve been in campus. Several workshops, career fares and even educative and interactive conferences are organized but only a handful of broadminded students show up. To add vinegar in sour milk, no freshmen attend this events or at least countable ones! But when they get to their final years they begin to run up and down attending all networking events that come down the pike. Act of desperation? You tell me. What ignorant students don’t know is that constant and never ending improvement isn’t just something one “cheeks off” for the day. Rather its a mindset of perpetual improvement displayed through habit.

Quotes nowadays will inspire us to believe that the only permission, the only validation and the only opinion that matters in our quest for greatness is our own. For your information, Our intelligence is limited by ignorance which is fostered by our opinions. Opinions which are strengthened when we refuse to face reality. The reality of the world is that we need to face criticism and figure out how it can help us move forward. We do know what’s best for us, true, But it won’t hurt if we actually considered and try to see what others have in mind about us.
The cliff notes version is this; a student with a growth mindset believes that skill development and talents are derivatives of personal will and effort (looking at the broader picture) and that IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE!