By SARA MINOGUE

GUEST WRITER

“Being educated doesn’t make you better than anyone. It only makes you different.”

Timothy B. Donaldson

  We have all seen quotes throughout our lives. Whether we have quoted someone for a final paper or have seen famous ones on posters, they seem to come up everywhere. Most of the time, and I am guilty of this, we see quotes and claim that they are “inspirational” or “awesome,” but we do not dig deeper. Why?

    For the past four years, I have come across quotes that really stuck out to me. Most of the quotes I heard caught my eye because I could relate them to my own life experiences. So, I started a book of quotes.

  The quote above is from one of the most incredible men I have ever met. Timothy Baswell Donaldson was the first Governor of the Bank of the Bahamas, as well as the Ambassador of the Bahamas to the United States, just to name a few of his accomplishments.  He received many honors during his life, including the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973 and the W.E.B Dubois Lifetime Achievement Award from Fiske University in 1998.

In addition to all of his achievements as a banker and a diplomat, Mr. Donaldson, was the father of a close friend of mine from high school, Tatiana. Because of this, I had the opportunity to speak with him on many occasions.

    One morning, I was sitting in my friend’s kitchen describing my high school experience with her and her parents. I described how everyone at school was friendly, but there were a few bright students who were somewhat standoffish. That was when Mr. Donaldson shared this quote with me.

  I have taken away several valuable lessons from his quote. The most important is that a college graduate does not make one better than those who are not. Once we graduate from St. Lawrence, we will have a diploma and an incredible education to back up this piece of paper. Yet, it is just a piece of paper.

I am not belittling the remarkable experience that college will give us. However, we were all given an incredible opportunity whereas many young adults have not been.   

This does not make them any less educated or cultured than a college graduate. Mr. Donaldson highlighted the idea that everyone has something different to bring to the table, whether that be education, life experience, or both. It is crucial to understand that proof of education does not only come in the form of a diploma. Listening to different perspectives can teach us a lot about people. For example, I have had many relatives, who did not pursue any higher education. They have explained to me that they have found success and knowledge through the mistakes they have made in their lifetime. This idea has allowed them to become successful and happy, without that infamous piece of paper .

  Another idea to take away from this is openmindedness. Throughout our lives, we will meet people from all different backgrounds who bring their own lessons to the table. Mr. Donaldson, being just one of those.  Despite all his acheivements, he claims it does not make him better and he is correct. And because of this, rest assured, there is truth to his quote.