Being “Street-Smart” means being able to develop confidence in one’s abilities to observe and interpret, analyze and discuss a subject or topic through learning and past experiences. I also firmly believe that a person becomes street-smart if he puts an effort researching on activities and experiences that helps him dribble past obstacles, easily with the right amount of determination towards the goal that he might have set for himself. The thirst for knowledge and the curious mind for a topic develops in that person due to interesting topics that creates a unique vibe while gaining insights or conversing about the subject matter. For this reason, the person genuinely enjoys mastering his art and skills to become more affluent, and constantly influences himself to strive for the better, so that he too can share an intellectual opinion on the topic of interest. Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” blatantly describes how college destroys the intellectual …show more content…
Most of his adolescent life was spent absorbing and analyzing details about football, baseball, basketball, and all its glory. Additionally, not being accepted by the “eggheads”, and the intricate debates with close friends about the toughest guy in the school collectively pushed Graff closer towards an intellectual life. It was only later when he realized that the sports life was much more educating than school life. Graff claims that college made him chose an intellectual identity by directly taking subjects that interested him rather than taking the ones that were recommended by the college. This could lead students to make even the most astounding subject seem pale and dull. Just being a street-smart couldn’t pave the way for Graff to pursue a career in the sporting industry, because he failed to look at sports through “academic