How To Be "Smart"

  Being at home has given me the chance to watch television again.
  Which, honestly, I'm not entirely sure if that is a good or bad thing, considering all of the crap that makes it onto national television these days.
  There are A LOT of things that stand out to me (and not in a good way). But here, I'm only going to skim the tip of the iceberg.
  I was watching the Lifetime channel, when a commercial for a new show called 'Child Genius' came on. This particular commercial advertised a child spelling a very long word.
  And maybe you may look at that and think, 'Wow. That kid's so smart. Look at that huge word she spelled!'
  However, it is CRUCIAL that one takes a moment to realize: the spelling of that word isn't a knowledge that she was born with. She had to memorize it.

  So today, I want to talk about the misunderstanding and improper hype that surrounds the word "smart".
  This is a word that I have personally been using less and less in my daily vocabulary. And that is because it is such a subjective, one-sided word. I know too many people who attach the embodiment of this word to grades and SAT scores. I, however, have come to see that there is more to one's intelligence than just numbers on a piece of paper.
  Obviously, I do believe that everyone has a different degree of intelligence. However, if there is one thing that I do NOT think accurately shows this degree, it is the SAT. Too many get caught up in the numbers, and think that only if they score above a 2000 will they be deemed mentally worthy. In my opinion, I don't believe that any standardized test is formatted to test people's intelligence in the way that they think it is. I mean, there are companies out there who profit from teaching students how to take these exams. If they were something that actually tested pure intelligence, there would be no need for such a thing. So essentially, this creates an atmosphere that if you can pay for all of the books and tutoring, you can buy your way to a perfect score. And I think we can all agree that that's not an accurate way to measure intelligence.
  It is also unfortunate that people fail to see how much diversity can exist in intelligence. There are more ways to be "smart" than by just getting all A's (and let's be realistic; now-a-days, getting all A's often times can't be considered a honest representation of a student's intelligence). To me, there are plenty of different ways a person can be intelligent: it can range from academically, by having a talent for mathematics and numbers, to artistically, and having a saavy for music notes or paintbrush strokes.
  We need to stop pushing these one-dimensional definitions of intelligence. Too many kids are deeming themselves "dumb" for arbitrary things, like not scoring a perfect score on a standardized exam, or not making straight As all the time. I know I was once a victim of this myself; I used to always think I was "stupid" if I couldn't make perfect scores all the time. We also need to stop glorifying memorized facts and and manufactured answers; because as cool as it may seem that you can list the names of all 43 individuals who served as presidents in the United States, these practiced answers aren't what help solve worldly issues, or contribute to the improvement of our societies.
  At the end of the day, "smartness" and "intelligence" are mostly subjunctive ideas. Everyone has a different idea of their different degrees. So rather than setting false and unreasonable standards of what it means to be "smart", why don't we instead encourage children to be the best them that they can be, by enhancing their talents and striving to show the best of their personalities?

  Thanks for reading.