RSS 2.0 FeedAugust 19, 2011, Weekly editorial
‘To the vector belong the spoils’
Bad pun, bad, bad pun! But it is the punch line to the classic “The dot and the line” by Norton Juster, which every student accepted to a certain university received recently.
And its point is well taken by students of all ages as they head back to school.
The story’s characters are a dot, the squiggle she loves and the line who wants to win her love. In order to seem exciting to her, the line learns to make all sorts of geometric shapes and patterns. It takes time, discipline and hard work, much more than mere enthusiasm.
But eventually through practice and more practice he is able to do awesome things and wins the admiration and the hand of the dot, who suddenly sees that the squiggle is not all that amazing.
And thus, the moral of the story: “To the vector belong the spoils.”
If you want to become a journalist, for example, it is not enough to enjoy talking to people and writing about them. You have to learn grammar, spelling and how to craft your words to give all the facts in a way that captures people’s attention and makes them think. You have to study what makes things fair, and how to present both sides objectively. Then, you also have to master research techniques and know how to analyze information and evaluate sources.
Beyond that is all the technology involved in word processing, video recording, photography and social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
Many journalists also have specialties in the arts, politics or the sciences. Then they need a deep background of years of study in those fields as well.
Way, way before that, students are in school to become socialized and learn the basics of reading, writing and math. And sometimes it is not easy for students in the lower grades to see the relevance of, say, math, even if they are given silly problems like “the train is traveling at 60 miles per hour and has to stop for five minutes at each of three stations, so how long will it take to get to Podunk, 45 minutes from here?” Who cares?
But exciting, creative programs like the robotics competition give them an inkling of how they can use the building blocks of knowledge to achieve something exciting and useful.
School is also where you learn the importance of good attendance and that any success is “95 percent perspiration and 5 percent inspiration.”
Teachers are there to guide and inspire, but ultimately every student has to reach deep inside and discover all that he or she can be.
