5
OPINION
Thursday, August 4, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
E-mail aaron at asandEl@umich.Edu
AARON SANDEL
by a question or find yourself at
a loss for an answer more than
once, and that is nothing to be
concerned with.
When I started out writing this
piece, there were at least a dozen
times I almost deleted everything
I’d written or tried to downplay
what I’d learned to make it seem
as though there wasn’t such
a big hole in my knowledge. I
certainly considered writing on
a different topic to avoid what
embarrassment I might feel once
it was published or to dodge any
judgment I felt might come my
way.
But as I continued to write this
piece, I realized it was important
for me to get it out there, as I
thought it could speak to not
just my own worries, but those
of others. We shouldn’t have
to live in a world where we are
embarrassed or afraid to admit
we
learned
something
new.
Having knowledge is a wonderful
thing, but so is learning new
things. Even if it seems like you
should have known it before, that
may simply be the high standards
you set for yourself.
Just
because
there
is
knowledge out there that you
haven’t learned, you are no
less sensitive to other peoples
or
other
cultures.
You
are
not ignorant. It doesn’t mean
you don’t spend enough time
wanting to understand and be
compassionate toward others. It
isn’t about what you know from
the get-go that defines who you
are, but it’s what you do with
what you learn that shapes the
person you are.
You aren’t Google or Siri.
You’re human.
—Anna Polumbo-Levy can be
reahed at annapl@umich.edu.
You’ll never know everything
W
hen
I
first
began
working at the law
firm I was interning
for
this
summer,
I’d
never
heard
of
Mam
or
Quiché
—
two different
ethnic groups indigenous to
Guatemala. In fact, this summer
was the first time I had heard
of
Spanish-speaking
Ladinos,
persecuting indigenous peoples
of Central American countries
because
of
their
indigenous
traditions,
culture
and
the
fact that Spanish was not their
first language. In fact, quite
a few of our clients spoke
little to no Spanish, only their
indigenous language (Mam or
Quiché). Before this summer,
I did not understand that clear
distinction, and I wasn’t fully
aware of all the different ethnic
groups in these regions, nor
did I understand the different
languages of the regions.
And
immediately
after
realizing that I had been unaware
of these important facts up until
that point, I felt embarrassed,
ashamed that I didn’t know all
this before. Through listening
to the stories of many of our
clients and potential clients and
learning about the prevalence
of this persecution, I thought I
should have known these facts
already.
In this moment, I felt as though
this signified a great ignorance
of important history, culture and
people that I was ashamed to
admit. My whole life I’d thought
I was attuned to other peoples,
other cultures, different places. I
felt the security of what I thought
I knew shatter — but fortunately,
it was only for a brief moment.
After talking with family and
family friends, sharing what I
had learned in my first few days
at work, I realized, to a varying
degree, that many others were
not completely aware of what
I’d just learned either. Other
people that I admired for their
knowledge and understanding
of various important issues also
knew very little about this. It
wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t
abnormal.
While I would have loved to
be able to come to a conclusion
without others, since I still
struggle
to
accept
parts
of
myself, and self-consciousness
still follows me around, seeing
others react as I had helped.
And
even
when
a
friend
or family member did know
these facts that I was only just
learning, they never made it a big
deal that I didn’t. Instead, they
simply shared in my anger in
the persecution of these people,
not even making a point to
acknowledge that I didn’t know
all the facts sooner.
Upon reflection, I was quick
to beat myself up for not having
all the knowledge on the subject,
for being “out of touch.” But
the reality is, how can we
possess
extensive
knowledge
about everything? That isn’t
something
we
can
neither
expect of ourselves nor should
we expect that of others. In
fact, professionals specialize for
different reasons, and they put
aside any pride they may feel that
they are an expert, when they are
not well versed in another area
of their profession. The same
thing, I believe, can be applied to
everyday knowledge.
As someone who works hard
to understand and appreciate
different peoples and different
cultures, it worried me that I
didn’t have all my facts. And
while at first I felt that it was
my fault, it doesn’t do any good
to fixate on what we didn’t
know and should have. Instead,
appreciate
it
as
a
learning
experience and realize that it
is impossible for us to know
everything.
Whether
we
want
to
acknowledge it or not, no one
has all the answers. No one
is above learning something
new. And while this may seem
obvious, it is something I don’t
believe we focus on enough. We
are so preoccupied with being
right, thinking before you speak,
that questions and unfinished
thoughts can feel unwelcomed.
We learn new things every day
for the rest of our lives, and it is
important to acknowledge that
and to see it as a positive thing.
As opposed to raising an
eyebrow
when
someone
confesses they didn’t have all
the facts or running for cover
when you discover you didn’t
have the answer, encouraging
learning every day is important.
And not only is it important, but
it is unavoidable. I can assure
you that in your lifetime, you
will most certainly be tripped up
Carolyn Ayaub, Roland Davidson, Caitlin Heenan,
Elena Hubbell, Jeremy Kaplan, Madeline Nowicki,
Kevin Sweitzer, Brooke White.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
ANNA
POLUMBO-
LEVY