Diego Torrealba

Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to be recognized as a College Scholar at UT Austin’s 77th Annual Honors Day for my work as an undergraduate student. Of the many pieces of advice given at the ceremony, I resonated most with guest speaker Dr. Peter Stone’s urge for us to be lifelong learners, capable of learning new tricks and frameworks throughout our careers.

Stone mentioned that, as the world and the job market evolve, many of us, including myself, will likely pursue different careers rather than sticking to one for most of our professional lives. This means being a student does not end once you receive your diploma. If anything, your diploma marks only the end of your formal instruction, but you’ll continue to learn from your jobs, your experiences, and (most importantly) your mistakes.

While it may seem obvious, being open to learning new things is crucial for effective lifelong learning. Too often, pride in our skills or abilities can make us complacent about identifying areas for improvement. But in this age, we must strive to refine ourselves continually, especially as technology continues to evolve. What worked today may not always work tomorrow, and, as a young person, I need to keep this in mind as I make assumptions about how the future will look.

To this end, I pledge always to learn more than what I “need” to know while accepting that what I do know can be flawed or incomplete. I will never assert that I know everything I can learn about any topic, and I will always be open to reframing my paradigm as new information or arguments arise. This way, my mind will stay sharp, and my skills will be adaptable as the world evolves quickly.

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