What is intelligence?

 by Giovanni Ferro

We have all heard the word intelligent many times in our life. However, I have never understood fully what one means by intelligent. One of my teachers says there are eight different intelligences, for example logical and linguistic intelligence, and they are all equally important. Often the word intelligent is used to refer to someone that has successful academic results, however, as you may see yourselves from the diagram, just by being successful in sports, or passionate about nature, you are, by definition, intelligent.

One may have extraordinary results in college or at school, but lack in sense of humor and rationality and therefore not be fully intelligent. Being able to understand how others are feeling and behaving in a certain way according to the situation we are living, are also aptitudes that can accent one's intelligence. A final example can be tied to positivity, being optimistic and always looking at the bright side of things can demonstrate that one knows his priorities and can distinguish what is really important from what is secondary. No human being is perfect and therefore intelligent at 360°. However, one may strive for perfection, and by demonstrating commitment and coherency in trying to obtain something he or she desires is one form or intelligence. Just by trying and not giving up, one can reach her greatest goal; success, or better, intelligence.

Altruism?

by Luca Monnerjan 

The earth keeps spinning. Round and round, all the time. Wherever we are, whatever we do. It never stops. We don't even feel it spinning but it does, all the time. Although it sometimes feels to us, that we're standing still, we never do. And so does time. Time doesn't stop either, it never did and it never will. Everything we know and will ever know, was born, it lived and died. Like everything in this little world that seems so big to everyone. It seems so big, but it means nothing to the universe. Nothing we do is important in the end. Everything we do is for our own comfort in the end. Although we think it is not for ourselves, whenever you help someone it is also to comfort your conscience. Whenever you decide to not help someone it is for your own physical comfort. But we are so small in this endless seeming universe. Maybe it is not endless at all? Maybe it is just endless to us.

The Gaze, The Vision, The Sight

by Emily Teng                                                                                  

The gaze, people all directly turning to me. Thousands and millions of people I feel. My vision went blurry, my face is burning. The gaze seems like thousand miles of sunlight, the cheekbones sitting on my face lightening into dull red, and then bright red. The force of the gaze is pushing me down and down. At the end, I am pressed on the ground. My body sinking into the soil slowly. 'What a relief' I thought consciously closing my eyes.  

'You don't deserve! You don't earn!'  The screams and shouting went on for a longtime.   When I opened it again, the people had disappeared. Not only the people, the sand, the soil and stones all had turned, changed into liquid. I was floating. Why are the others all gone? 'Oh, probably because I'm different.' I probe my head into the water, the taste of salt came straight towards my tongue and down into my throat. The water is clear, clear enough that I sort of can see the bottom of it. Waves seemed to be pushing me up and down. A little voice mumbled beside my ear --- you're in the Atlantic Ocean! I was so frightened that I was splashing, flailing my legs as hard as possible. I tried to not move so I could keep afloat. 

The sun was slowly going down. The clouds painted the sky orange and then was sprayed with yellow. The sea level became clearer and clearer with the contrast of the sky. Birds flashing through the sky so fast that I could not see the true shape of them. After an hour, the view of the sea level darkened.  The whole environment around me magically grew pitch black. I was trying not to breath. Feeling alone, but I was glad that I escaped from the gaze of people. Suddenly, a tiny light came far away from the sea. It grew bigger and bigger.  When it came close enough to see its shape, I gazed at it for a long time. A huge ship made of blue metal wrapped with white lines, the side of it written- FREEDOM

And the clock ticks, tick, tick

by Agustina Molla 

Thinking, thinking and thinking about what I should write, but it seems like my imagination has come to an end like the exams. I'm so tired, I think I could fall asleep very easily. Everyone looks so concentrated and silent, and I can hear people drinking water and moving paper as they write their stories. So tired I couldn't even think, it's like the silence makes me even more tired. Looking at the clock makes it worse. It's like the time stopped. Looked again at the clock and finally one minute had passed. Can't think of anything...I'm blocked. The only thing in my mind is a picture of me on the couch skyping my friend and watching a movie...Looked at the clock again, 15 more minutes. In 15 minutes I could go outside, get in the car, get home and watch a movie... I just start daydreaming with my eyes wide open. Flashes of memories start coming to my mind. How happy was I when I went to Argentina, my friends, the pool, my family, the airport, and my friends again. I miss Argentina so much, I wish I could be there. It's summer there and it was so hot. Me in the pool with friends, I think I was the happiest person in the world, nothing mattered that day. It didn't matter if I had to come back to Italy. Everything that mattered was that I was there with my friends in the pool. That was it. Nike interrupts the flashes of memory telling me that in 3 minutes we would go home. How time works is something I'll never understand.

Swish

by Nike Klemmer 

The music was pounding in my ears as I changed into my basketball cloths. I slipped into my high ankle shoes but left the tying for later, like every time I had a game. Swedish House Mafias Greyhound was making my blood pump faster as I tied up my hair. It was early, and as I left the changing rooms I saw there wasn't anyone in the bleachers yet. I began walking the lengths of the court stretching my calves. The song switched and techno beat was blasting through my headphones. After a lap around the orange field, I chose a ball from the rack and let it roll around in my hands as I made my way to the three-point line. Bouncing the ball a couple of times, enjoying the feeling of the bumpy materials against my fingers, I crouch down, aimed and shot. Swish. I took out my headphones and packed away my iPod, forcing myself to focus solely on the game ahead. The empty gym echoes the sound of the ball thumping the gym floor. Dribbling through my legs I go up the free-shot line, aim and shoot. Swish. I smile to myself. Today was going to be a good game for me. I started stretching and when the first visitors started arriving I put the ball back on the rack. Sitting down against the cool, brick gym wall I tied up my shoelaces. The stuffing of the high tops molding my ankle and holding it tightly in place. The two different colored laces remind me of my first basketball game. My shoe lace had ripped and I had to borrow one from a friend. That day I had worn  neon orange and neon pink shoelaces. I shot my first three-pointer and my team won the game that day, and since then wearing two same colored shoelaces was out of question for me.

Stormy day

by Pietro Barcellona

Today is a cold and stormy day like many days here in Torino. I love these days and this weather makes me feel at home. I like the winter weather much more that the summer weather, with the rain, the snow, the clouds and the greyness. I like dark colors like blue, grey, or black much more than red and yellow. I like some reds and yellows but not the very bright ones. I like the color of this desk very much. I don’t like how I am using “like” so much. I’ll change. Music is a big part of my life. I don’t know if I prefer visual or musical art. Certainly I am more talented at playing music than at drawing.

I can’t wait to go to the mountains and ski and go hiking with my dog. I would love to live in Switzerland. I wander what it would be like but I don’t think it would be boring like people say. Do I really like physics and math? Not as much as music for sure. I was never forced to play music but I was never forced to study physics either really. I am very fascinated by stars and the laws of physics. Explaining things with simple mathematical rules is just amazing. I wonder if one day we will be able to explain how the brain works using math. We are already pretty close as Santo explained. I wonder how the mister will imagine Santo. Basically quantum physics can be applied to masses using probability. Santo found a theorem to predict the income of movies and one to predict elections results. I wonder where he is now. He could be at Stanford or in Finland. I wouldn’t want to be like Santo. His life is too tough. I would like to mix Nando’s way of living and Santo’s, but I don’t think that’s possible. It will be Christmas soon. I’ll get my new pedals and I’ll have a lot of jamming with Olmo in Switzerland. Can’t wait for skiing. It will be a weird Christmas without my grandfather for the first time. He was the center of my father’s family. It’s like the main column of a temple collapsed and the temple barely managed not to collapse too. My father really loved him.