CLASS OF 2011 GRADUATION

JUNE 3, 2011

McLAUGHLIN THEATER FOR PERFORMING ARTS

ST. IGNATIUS COLLEGE PREP

Intellectually Competent presented by Mr. David Diehl

I am presenting the award for being Intellectually Competent.  When people hear this grad-at-grad quality, it is often initially misunderstood.  First of all, the two words that make it up are sometimes difficult to pronounce - “Intellectually Competent.”  Secondly, we often misunderstand the meanings of the word “intellectually”.  “Intellectually” has the root word Intellect.  “Intelligence” does not mean “smart.”  Intelligence means the “capacity for knowledge”; the capacity – the ability to hold knowledge.  The reason we hold this quality asone of the five qualities all gentlemen at CJA should be developing by the time they graduate is because we never want them to catch themselves saying:

“This person is smart,” or “This person is good at languages,” or “I am bad at math.” 

That is the lazy person’s mantra.  If you are simply born with characteristics of being good or bad at something, then you have gotten rid of the need to work hard because what you are has already been determined.  Being “intellectually competent” means that you know that you have the capacity for greatness but you need to be persistent.  You need to practice it.  You need to prepare yourself for it.  You need to organize yourself.  You need to be curious.  You need to like knowledge.   None of that “comes naturally.” 

This brings me to the gentleman that we will recognize tonight for being intellectually competent.  He has not figured out all of the tricks to how to prepare himself to gain knowledge or how to organize that information once it is gained, but he is getting there and he has been very open to learning how to do it, especially in his 8th-grade year.

Persistence and curiosity are key components to being intellectually competent. 

Every week, in Algebra class there was a Problem of the Week assigned.  On one Problem of the Week in particular, there was a problem about the number of diagonals in a nine-sided figure.  This gentleman found out that initially the only way to do this problem was by drawing gradually increasing figure sizes until he reached a nine-sided figure.  This involves a lot more work than you may think.  He was able to find his answer through persistent trial and error.  He could have stopped there satisfied he completed the assignment.  But then instead of stopping there, he kept going to see what would happen if he continued with increasing-sided shapes.  He did it enough times that he found a pattern which led to a formula for the number of diagonals in any polygon.  This would never have happened if he was not persistent and curious.

Part of the challenge of these Problems of the Week are that they are assigned Monday and not due until Friday.  This requires organization.  This gentleman struggled with organization this year, but came to understand its importance.  He was open to trying a number of tactics.  We tried color coded folders.  We tried a little notebook where he kept a list of things to do.  Eventually, he came up with a system of accordion-style folders that he is currently using. 

As the demands on him grow next year, this system may change as well, but the fact that he is curious, the fact that he understands the importance of organization and practicing doing things the right way earns Eric this year’s Grad at Grad award for being Intellectually Competent.

Remember, “Intelligence is not a fixed trait.”