If ever I walk into a room where I know more than everyone else who is present, I will have failed myself. The day no one can challenge my knowledge and my beliefs is the day I realize I have given up on becoming who I deserve to be. This is the day I stop growing, stop improving, stop learning.

Foolish, right? Most of us go to school to be the smartest, to be the best, but what does that mean? What makes someone so intelligent that they are labeled as a “genius”? Perhaps they are an expert in their field of study? But does this make them the smartest? Your doctor might be the best in the country, so they might believe they are the smartest in every room they walk into, and that might be good enough for them.

But it will never be for me. I never want to reach the point where I have allowed my brain to hit maximum capacity. To be in a state where I think I know so much more than everyone around me, so much more that I no longer need to learn. To listen. To engage, debate, challenge. I never want to be so steadfast in my knowledge that I have disconnected myself from the art of contemplation.

I want to be challenged everywhere I go. I want to discuss the origin of the universe, despite my own beliefs. I want to understand culture, gender, space, religion, art, technology, and everything in between. I want someone to look me in the eyes and say, “I disagree, and here’s why.”


I value the way every human mind thinks. While we came from the same place, and possess the same anatomical skeleton, we are nothing like one another. We have been given this gift to dig deeper, to analyze, to criticize, to find the similarities and differences between the galaxy and our own selves. We can question whatever we want and we can do it wherever we want, however we want, and whenever we want.

Our ability to wonder about life and everything that makes up our existence is perplexing. Knowledge is infinite. Therefore, the notion that any one being is the smartest in the room is completely erroneous. How can someone look at another person and say, “I am smarter than you because of X, Y, and Z,” and truly believe what they are saying? Yes, you may be smarter than me when it comes to nuclear physics, but if I understand literature better than you do, then what makes either of us smarter than the other?

I am not belittling anyone for believing they are intelligent. I believe each and every being has the opportunity to enlighten themselves and expand their knowledge, regardless of the subject matter they choose. I am sure every person possesses that one aspect of life that they are so passionate about and very well-informed about, but does that make you the smartest in the room?

If you believe so, then carry on. Own your knowledge. Be proud of what you have learned. However, I am confident that I will never be the smartest person in any room because there will always be more for me to learn. And I’m okay with that.