The phrase “I don’t know how” hasn’t been in my vocabulary lately. How can anyone say that when there are so many resources at our finger tips? Wouldn’t everyone’s life be much simpler if they would just “Google it”?
For some reason, I was able to escape college without ever having learned Microsoft Excel. I was happy at the time, thinking I would never have a job that required knowledge of the program, but I was wrong. I had to create a spreadsheet on the first day of my very first “big girl job.” Being the stubborn woman I am, I could not admit my lack of knowledge to my boss, nor could I bring myself to ask her for advice. After all, who needs advice when there are video tutorials on the Internet for just about anything you can think of?
After watching several videos and seeking advice online, I successfully stuck by the fact I originally had no clue what I was doing. I have actually become quite experienced in the program, and I think I learned better by teaching myself than being taught by someone else.
Nevertheless, If I ever have a question someone around me doesn’t know the answer to, I turn to Google. Although you have to be careful when it comes to the reliability of things on the Web, it’s definitely a good starting point. The benefit to doing this is that generally, at one point, someone else has inquired about the very same thing.
So, what does this mean for future generations? Will they inevitably be smarter than us? According to noconsensus.org, “Not only will future generations be smarter than we are, but five more decades of technological innovation will equip them with tools we haven’t yet dreamed of.” After all, who would have imagined 20 years ago that someone would be reading this story on the Internet rather than in a newspaper, book, or magazine? I can only imagine the tools children will have available to them in the future.
I could not hold it in any longer and admitted my lack of Excel knowledge to my boss. She was surprisingly very proud. Of course, she said I could have asked her for help, but she thought it was an admirable trait that I would go searching for the answer myself. Maybe there’s always a benefit to learning and teaching yourself something new after all.
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Kara Vass is the Catering Assistant EKU Catering/ARAMARK. She can be reached at [email protected].
