Intellectual Perseverance
Intellectual perseverance will not only be vital in my pursuit of a higher degree, but will also be something that is needed to help me build a stronger, more sharpened character. As each course in the Leadership degree program becomes more challenging, it will be the value I have placed on pursuing truth and knowledge that will get me through each class. It will be my need to struggle through any confusions to get to the answers of unsettled questions that may extend over a period of time that will allow me to achieve a deeper understanding and insight; otherwise known as, Intellectual Perseverance.
Striving to be a better, wiser, stronger version of myself is what keeps me on my educational path and working towards earning a master’s degree. There have been many obstacles, challenges, and times where quitting was a more palatable option, but holding on to truths and rational principles despite irrational oppositions are why I am still pushing forward today. The human central processing unit (the brain) is a powerful mind-machine that is capable of far more than most people use it for. I notice a difference in how I think, feel, and respond to people after each class I have taken. With every research paper, every discussion post, and every assignment, my knowledge base grows.
A good leader is always in pursuit of knowledge. A mom is a leader to her children, a student who is leader on a project, and employee who is a leader on a job assignment, or a politician who is trying to lead the country to a better place, all need to have intellectual perseverance to push through the challenges that each will face. Albert Einstein once stated that, “he was not smarter, it was just that he stayed with problems longer”. It’s about not giving up. It’s about having the perseverance to not give in to easily and to stay with it when it gets tough. Helen Keller was deaf and blind, but she had such a strong mind-machine that she continued to push herself on a daily basis to learn. This is what it means to have intellectual perseverance. It means that a person does not stop on their pursuit for higher learning just because the road got tough or because they came across a problem they could not grasp.
On this journey of obtaining my Master’s degree in Leadership I will have to have intellectual perseverance in order to succeed, especially since not succeeding is not an option. There will be obstacles like juggling family life, a job, and homework assignments, but I have a goal. I have the tenacity that is needed to keep going. I have the desire that is needed to succeed. But most importantly, I have the need to continue to learn and grow. It is important to the future of my children that they learn from me what it means to have intellectual perseverance, so that one day they might change the world.
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