Anna's response to Nat's post!

"Intelligence, academic performance, and prestigious schools don’t correlate well with fulfillment, or even with outstanding accomplishment. The traits that do make a difference are poorly understood, and can’t be taught in a classroom, no matter what the tuition: the ability to understand and inspire people; to read situations and discern the underlying patterns; to build trusting relationships; to recognize and correct one’s shortcomings; to imagine alternate futures..."

The quote is from the article, "Social Animal: What the Science of Human Nature Can Teach Us," by David Brooks. While Amy Chua, the author of the article Nat has posted, argues that a strict parenting model instills "qualities that lead to highest achievement," Brooks believes that success and happiness also come from an array of social interactions mentioned above. The piece we read by Jeffrey Pfeffer similarly mentioned social interaction as being important for success, specifically power i.e. "use the personal touch" and "make important relationships work- no matter what." Studying all day and all night [with no play dates or sleepovers] may produce the best engineer or scientist, but it will not necessarily produce the best entrepreneur. Technical proficiencies are certainly ingredients to success, influence and power, but Brooks suggests that alone they are not sufficient. Now that we are away from Hamilton for the semester and all participating in internships, I think we should all focus on developing these skills and traits.

On a fun note and also from the Brooks article-

"Joining a group that meets just once a month produces the same increase in happiness as doubling your income."

I joined a gym earlier in the week, and this morning I took my first workout class, called Definitions. I plan on taking this class every Saturday. Taking the same class with the same people every week is fun and you meet people you would never meet otherwise!