Being a college student has its advantages and its disadvanages. The one thing that was pressed upon me most in my first semester of college was finding out just exactly what wisdom is. As a result, I present what I think wisdom truly is.

Wisdom derives from the ability to learn through ones own experiences or through experiences from others, and then be able to apply that knowledge to better the condition of oneself or others. While being old guarantees having more experiences, it does necessarily assure that individual is wise. Learning from one's own mistakes or from other's mistakes is the key component to becoming wise. Also, a person who constantly learns and studies all of their life can be considered wise. In addition, the act of applying knowledge to an unknown event or experience currently taking place demonstrates a person is wise. As my grandma Elaine always told me, "Only an idiot never learns from his own mistakes. It takes intelligence to learn from your own mistakes. But, it takes wisdom to learn from your own mistakes and other people's mistakes."

In order to become wise or to possess a key trait of wisdom, one must learn from one's own mistakes as well as the mistakes of others. January 8th, 2000 marked a tragic experience for my friend, William. It was almost three in the morning and William and I became exhausted. William wanted to return home so he could sleep but I disagreed with him. "Stay here at my house William. It's too late to drive and you're completely drained." Unfortunately, William refused to listen. "I'm fine. I'll be okay. It's only a twenty minute drive." Reluctantly, I let William leave my house. As he entered his red Toyota, I never imagined that it was almost the last time that I would ever see William again. Apparently, William fell asleep at the wheel about five minutes from my house. He ended up crashing into a wall on 183rd Street and becoming seriously injured. The next time I saw William, he was in a hospital fighting for his life. Since that tragic night, William has fully recovered and has learned from his error in judgment. Due to William learning the hard way, he has made me become more aware that driving late at night while being half awake may cause one to become seriously injured in a car collision or accident. In addition, I will no longer let someone leave my house if I feel they are inadequate of drive home safely. Since then, William has never turned down an offer to stay at a place if he is too exhausted or sleepy to drive home. William and I have both learned from a tragic mistake and will not repeat the same one again.

A person who constantly learns and studies all of their life has a portion of wisdom. My grandma Elaine is eighty years old. She can barely walk, spends most of her time at home, can no longer drive, and can barely hear. I often find it difficult to converse with her when she is watching her game shows on television at full volume. Despite all these characteristics against her, she continues to push herself when it comes to education. Amazingly, even though she is no longer required to study or learn she continues to do so. Her memory slips now and then but that does not discourage her from continuing to study new ideas and new technology. I admire her ability to want to learn the newest technology boom, the computer. She is the only eighty-year old person I know who can write electronic mail and surf the web. She studied all her life, from history to science, and even when this knowledge is no longer required, she still goes out and tries to learn. I admire her zest for knowledge, and hope that one day, I too can become wise and voluntarily want to learn things that will benefit me as a person, and not just get me the grade I want in class. Nonetheless, the ability to learn and study throughout one's entire life makes that person wise.

Being able to apply knowledge gained from different experiences into an experience that is new demonstrates wisdom. On April 13th, 1996 my uncle John took me on a fishing trip on his boat. We entered the rusty old boat at five in the morning since that is the best time for fishing. After a poor morning of fishing my uncle John became saddened over our lousy catches. "Alright. We're done. Hey, before we head back did you want to see this incredible view?" I suddenly became interested. "Sure but what is this incredible view?" I asked him. "This place a few miles away where the sun is shining bright above you, the water is crashing into the rocks, birds are flying over your head and seals are swimming and climbing the rocks," he explained. "Sure lets go!" Sadly, my uncle's memory of where this incredible view was located had left him. Suddenly we were lost and we did not have enough gas to get back, even if we knew where the dock was located. I began to panic and wonder if anyone would ever find us. This was the first time for my uncle to be lost in the ocean but he was amazingly calm. He assured me help would come once he radioed in. His ability to stay calm in this situation, continue to have hope, and to be able to reassure me that we would be found demonstrated his ability to apply previous knowledge to this knew experience. My uncle may of never been stranded out in sea, but he knew that being calm and having hope would get us through and keep us sane. Application of knowledge is important for becoming wise.

In order to attain wisdom, one must be able to learn from one's mistakes of others. A wise individual is not flawless. The individual makes mistakes on a consistent basis. Even though this person makes as many mistakes as the average person, what separates this wise person from the average person is the ability to learn from the mistakes made and therefore avoid making the mistake again. Many people, myself included, have procrastinated on a term paper. As a result, the paper was graded low due to not having enough time to proofread and write better examples. Even though the paper was scored lower or trampled on by a dancing-caffeine-induced-professor, the same people will procrastinate the next paper as well. In order to prevent previous mistakes, one must realize the importance of learning from the mistake. A severe consequence, listening to one conscience, and being aware when the mistake may occur are possible solutions. Nonetheless, it is up to the individual to determine whether or not to learn from past mistakes and not repeat them. In addition, constantly refreshing and keeping oneself up-to-date on current technology and general knowledge is essential to remaining wise. This creates the ability to be open-minded and wise at the same time. Lastly, the ability to apply the knowledge from past experiences into a different or new experience is the last step to becoming wise. This is perhaps the most difficult task. In order to attain this task, one must first be able to recognize what previous experiences that can be applied to the new one. In my uncle's case, he was able to use previous experiences of being lost on land and apply it to being lost in the ocean. Once all these steps are completed the path of wisdom will be visible.

Perhaps George Santayana said it best. "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it." The same goes to ignoring mistakes.