Back from home...

So, I am back from homecoming somewhat saddened that I have yet to find friends as eclectically inclined and genuinely caring as those in which I have from undergrad. However going back to campus gave me a new perspective on my life as it stands today. I will get to this new perspective soon but I have some other things to express though.

Being at Ohio State was the greatest composition of formative experiences in my young life but I could never really figured out why I loved Ohio State so much. For some, its the social aspects, for others, it is the intellectual stimulation and for some, it is the access to a wide range of opportunities. For me, all of those things were a portion of why I love Ohio State but is not THE reason. Until this weekend, I did not know but now I do. At its core, Ohio State is inspirational and that is why I love being there. It was at Ohio State where I first to really feel that with hard work and attention to detail, I could do anything I put my mind to. In a certain degree I took this feeling for granted thinking that it was just a normal part of college and I did not realize that I had lost that passion and fire in the short 6 months since graduation. Stepping back on campus and talking to my friends really reminded me of this. I do not know what makes Ohio State so inspirational to the 50,000+ students and 300,000+ alumni that walk the planet but whatever it is, it spurs greatness. Now that I have been reminded, I am ready to make my Alma Mater proud with a new found vim and vigor.

With that brief prologue, the new perspective that I have gained is that the difference between being good and great is never simply a matter of intellect but rather a product of intellect, agility, and most importantly drive.

To be great you have to be smart but not in a conventional sense. Your intelligence must lie not in your ability to learn and regurgitate facts but in your ability to take abstract information, synthesize it and develop thoughts and ideas that are logical, useful, and substantial. Being overly intelligent in the context of the world as a whole, in my opinion, has diminishing marginal utility. There is a minimum intelligence hurdle that I believe all highly successful people must meet but anything after that is gravy and adds less and less value to your situation the smarter you become.

As important as possessing intelligence, agility of the mind is also just as important. The world today is constantly changing and those who are great are able to use their intellect to recognize the changes and be sufficiently agile to strategically realign their position to take advantage of the changing conditions. The classic example would the evolving game strategy for any major sports team. A coach will put a game plan in place based on the information given. The best coaches however do not solely stick to the plan. They watch the game and see what works and what doesn't, all the while changing the game plan to capitalize on the strengths of his/her team or the weaknesses of the opponent. The ability change in the wake of shifting conditions is tantamount to agility.

I would consider my first two variables in my equation to be additive while the third to be multiplicative. Drive and determination is what my mom would say gets you through when nothing is going your way and because of that, those who are great have a healthy supply of it. Drive is intangible and is only present when a person really values and cares about what they are doing. That is what makes drive so special. Drive is solely motivated by the agenda in which you are willing to indisputably stake the reputation of how you lived your life. In my opinoin, everyone has drive. For some, it is quite specific like incresaing quality of education through the development of a national curriculum and for others (like myself) it is probably quite vague like wokring hard and doing well because everything you do, represnts your family. It is just a matter of finding what drives you. Once what drives you has been indentified, aligning your work to achieve your task is the next big challenge. This is what I am struggling with today and as soon as I figure it out, the opportunities are endless but for now...

It is what it is.