all i ever need to know I learned in grad school

Last night in a conversation with a new friend I remembered the main thing I have learned in grad school. I have learned about circulation patterns seating heights, lighting, site-scale and planning scale design, transportation planning, graphic design. I have learned many computer programs and become a decent teacher of basic biological concepts. I have gathered some very useful presentation skills and communication skills I desperately needed. But the lesson I find most valuable is the one that came up again last night, one that I use every day of my life.

Bernie and I were discussing academia and specifically his favorite professor in graduate school. On the first day of class she announced, " I will not teach you anything new. In undergrad you spent your time learning about and struggling to remember concepts and specific details. In graduate school you spend your time learning that a full understanding of these concepts is not possible." The most important lesson for me from grad school? Humility. The ability to stand up in front of a group of students and try to teach what I know about biology, and to admit when I don't know and to feel comfortable with that. To be able to ask the class if anyone else knows the answer. And to recognize that I can learn something from every single person in the room. To admit to everyone I meet that they know many things I do not, they have experienced things in a way I will never experience them.