To Know

A couple of years ago, I said  to a co-worker: "You know the difference between being a student and a professional. Students are looking to know more while professionals are looking to show off what they know." Ironically, now that I'm back in school, my biggest frustration is knowing.

What's up with the desire to know?

Nahko Bear (famous for his music group Medicine for the People) sings this beautiful song, Black as the Night:

I am no master, I know nothin’
I am no master, I know nothin’
I am no master, I know nothin’
but I am a servant and I know somethin’

Lots at work here, including Nahko Bear's practice of "servant leadership" and a rejection of top-down sources of knowledge. Seeing ourselves as unable to own knowledge turns this "looking to show off what we know" thing on its head. In pursuit of this learner-mentality, I came to the Middle East in January under the job title of "student."

But I'm struggling still with not knowing Arabic. I wish there were a finish line for proficiency that I could see off in the distance and work towards it. Instead I feel like I can't chart what little progress I am making.