"I don't know"

Watching my daughter grow, this has become one of the most popular phrases in our household. Yet, I took me 5 years to feel comfortable to start using this phrase again myself. Going through university, then my graduate degree and moving up in my career, I started to feel ashamed to admit that I don’t know something. We live in a society where you are expected to have an opinion on pretty much everything, even when you have no knowledge or interest in the topic. I vividly remember when I first started my graduate program in London after relocation from Moscow and told my classmates than I didn’t know how to format some paper (as I never lived abroad before), I was met with some subtle criticism that made me feel ashamed of not knowing that. The truth is that I was always eager to learn, yet feeling uncomfortable to ask for help or information pushed me to borrow other people’s opinions or form superficial views on topics I spent little time investigating. The purpose of inclusive environment is to enable people’s collective learning and sharing knowledge that one might be lacking. It is impossible to be an expert in every area and actually not knowing something is an opportunity for growth. Trying to learn new things should be rewarding, not intimidating. So now I am finally free to admit there are many things I still don’t know, but the path of learning that what makes me excited.