At the beginning of this academic year, Mackenzie Brown, the SGA’s former Director of Media Relations, asked the SGA executive members for a piece of advice that each of us would give to the incoming freshman class. He took each of our quotes and tweeted it from the SGA’s Twitter account. I would like to share the advice that I offered with each of you as well, as I think that it is applicable to everyone. It is important to surround yourself with intelligent people. If you ever find that you are the smartest person in a room, find a new room. It’s kind of pithy, but give me a break – I only had 140 characters to 
work with.

The point that I was getting at in my quote was that we should never stop learning and never be complacent with being just as smart as we are now. The human brain’s capacity to learn and take in vast amounts of information is astounding. Our brains long for new information, something new to learn. I’m sure you have heard it a million times, but like any other muscle, we need to exercise our brains. Again, a little lame, but it’s true. Sometimes, I am afraid, we lose sight of this.

I know that I have certainly had several days where I’ve just “turned off” my brain and binge-watched Netflix, but I often find that by the end of the day, I’m bored and restless. My brain is saying that it needs real excitement, some new experience, some problem solved. We shouldn’t be wasting our days on the couch, watching TV. There is too much to see and learn about – foreign cultures, a new book, nature, etc. Whatever topic most interests you, I guarantee you don’t know everything about it. If it interests you, go learn about it.

The fulfillment that you will get from learning and experiencing something interesting will far outstrip the emptiness from realizing that you just finished the last season of House of Cards and the next season doesn’t come out for 
another year.

This advice also applies to the graduating class. I think that one of the single most important factors for one’s success in the business world is the ability to learn – new financial modeling techniques, new engineering designs, new critiques on Shakespeare’s works, etc. Learning new skills makes you a more valuable employee. Most employers aren’t hiring you only for what you know and can do right now. They are hiring you because of your potential, your ability to expand what you already know and add value to their company. If you want to be an entrepreneur, go work for a company that is in the field that you want to be in, and learn everything that you can.

I think that one of the best and easiest ways to be constantly learning is by surrounding yourself with people that are smarter than you are. This is my suggestion and challenge for you. It can be hard to admit that we aren’t all the smartest people in the world, but we can’t all be the smartest people in the world. Find those people who are more intelligent than you are, maybe in a particular field, or maybe just in general, and spend time with them. It is amazing how much your brain can pick up just by being around other people 
and listening.

Chris Willis is a senior majoring in economics and finance. He was the 2014-2015 SGA Executive Vice President.