In life we, as people, are common faced with questions that we do not know the answer to, especially in college. As a freshman in college I am commonly faced with a problem that I can’t find a textbook answer for and struggle to create a solution for. Whether it be trying to navigate new relationships or trying to learn a subject for the first time, saying IDK seems to be a daily occurrence for me. But saying that I don’t know something shouldn’t be a sign of failure. Rather, the response of “I don’t know” should be acceptable in society and here’s why.
When I was 18 I went to a three-week program exploring the history of Virginia at William and Mary. There I learned about the study of history as a subject. In one of the lectures, the presenter said something that struck me. It was a response to a question about a balcony above the old court room of the statehouse. “What was it used for?” and the presenter did not know. No one knew, the use for the balcony was lost to time. The presenter explained that many things that happened in the past were never recorded, so the reason or use were lost to time.
What this woman said struck me in a way that I would have never expected. I was raised to always look for and know answers to every problem. As the eldest daughter I was look to as the person that always knew what to do, so when I didn’t know I felt in adequate or lost. I was berated by my therapists and parents when I didn’t know what was the source of my anxiety. I was shaped to not see not knowing something as a source of failure. It wasn’t until my experience with that historian that I realized not knowing something was okay. As humans we are not going to have all the answers to life’s problems and that is part of living.
So, I embrace you to actively say that you don’t know something. It might open up a new experience or give you the grace to understand the world around you.