Week 4 Growth Mindset: You're Not Stupid

I was browsing through the articles in the growth mindset blog, and I found an article with an interesting title: You Are Not Stupid by Brian Koberlein. I thought to myself hey maybe I should read this just to feel better about myself, but I didn't expect to connect to the article the way I did. Brian Koberlein, an astrophysics professor, wrote an article about how there is a misconception about scientists being absolutely brilliant and above the common man. People assume that he's a genius because of his profession, but Koberlein's response to this was "Smart didn’t allow me to become an astrophysicist. Hard work, dedication and the support of family and friends did." I knew exactly what he meant! My friends assume that I'm "smart" because I study microbiology and chemistry. Honestly, I'm not smarter than the average person. Yes, I do like to culture microorganisms and learn about chemical reactions, but understanding these topics didn't come to me naturally. In fact, I had to study really hard and seek outside help from tutors. Also, there were days when I wanted to switch majors because I thought I was too stupid for the higher-level courses. Fast forward to today. I'm about to finish my studies in each science, and it's because I didn't give up on myself. If self-doubt ever consumed my mind, my friends and family pushed me forward. Without them, I would have probably dropped out of those classes and would have never found my passion.

 Another section in the article that resonated in me was the part about cultural biases and stereotypes. Being a woman and a minority, I have to battle against negative presumptions about race and gender. She's a girl so she can't do math. She's Hispanic so she's unintelligent. I've had professional people advise me to not pursue a degree in science because it was common for "my people" to become pregnant at a young age and drop out. There was another instance when a patient told me that I couldn't be a doctor because girls can only be nurses. I've never felt so degraded. How does the color of my skin or my gender define what I can or cannot do? How can someone look at me and automatically predict my "limitations?" It's an ongoing internal conflict that I'm slowly overcoming.

In short, I study science not because I'm smart but because I'd like to understand the inner workings of the universe. I'm not a genius. I'm not naturally intelligent. I'm Hispanic, and I'm a woman, but I'm not stupid because of it. In fact, I'm not stupid at all. I've been wrong plenty of times. I've failed even more times, and that's okay because through all the failures I'm learning. And learning is what I do best.

It's okay to be wrong. Source.