Humans categorize almost everything in the world, from types of animals, to technology, and even how someone consumes their music daily. People too, like to place themselves into a category, usually to find those similar to them in beliefs, personality or even actions. These societal categories start as young as preschool and continue within higher education and adulthood. Two prevalent and easiest categories to put people within are if they have school smarts and street smarts.
But what does being street smart or school smart even mean? According to Dictionary.com, being street smart means having a “shrewd awareness of how to survive or succeed in any situation, especially as a result of living or working in a difficult environment.” Usually within the schooling environment, this term is placed upon people who do perform well great in the American school system, those who may have to try a little harder to get that 85% on a math test, the person who has to come in for extra review time with their teacher. In comparison, being school smart means that an individual performs excellently in school. All subjects seem easy to them. They may have gotten an almost perfect SAT score while also getting A’s in all classes with minimal effort.
Either of these skills can be useful in many situations. Having all your school subjects come easy to you allows for more free time outside of school, maybe you can start a new hobby or hang out with your friends for longer. But showing up to your math teacher’s class every day for help shows that you are determined and inspired to do better for yourself. Both of these skills can further and better you in life, but there are some misconceptions.
When an individual is not seen as school smart, it almost seems as if they are placed within a category of low intelligence. Being placed in a category of being street smart is a nicer way to say you believe that person is “stupid.” As someone who has struggled in math, and is afraid to admit it in some social situations, many individuals will then have a specific opinion on me. “You don’t have to be good at math; at least you can write,” is said to me in many situations. While it is true, that I do perform better in my English-based courses, saying I don’t have to be good at math diminishes the effort I put forth to do well in that subject.
On the contrary, my “street smarts” demonstrate valuable life skills, such as organizing your time to fit in more studying, pursuing a passion and honing my skills with it, by maybe showing the determination to succeed even if the grade I got isn’t perfect.
While it is hard to stop categorizing people into groups, I know this will not stop anytime soon. Instead, I recommend that you think about how the skills you have have benefited you in succeeding in your life. People generally have qualities in many groups, and it is important to not pigeonhole them into one box.
