I have always been very strongly right-brained in my way of thinking and seeing the
world. In elementary school, I remember walking the results of my intelligence
tests to the school office, looking over them, only to discover that the only
outstanding measurement, 99 Pencentile, was spatial relations.
The rest of my test results were pretty dismal. No one ever told me that
“spatial relations” had any significance in education, so,
needless to say, I felt pretty stupid. However, I loved art!
When I went on to high school, I drew everything I could, in any subject,
because I just loved to draw realistically. When studying biology,
I drew anatomical parts of animals, humans, and vegetation; in geography,
I drew and colored maps; in history, I drew and painted anything that could be seen;
and I recopied notes and organized them visually, adding any images I could.
Still I was never told the significance of a high test result in
“spatial relations”. However, my science teacher told me I should
pursue a career in the sciences, because my lab drawings were great! Being young,
uninformed, and naïve, I followed his advise.
The point of my story
is that although one would not call me intelligent based on my standardized tests,
I graduated Cum Laude from high school and was accepted to the university with
distinction of “honors at entrance”. I studied biology,
and once again graduated Cum Laude. I believe the reason I was able to excel
in my education was because I used the right side of my brain, the side that
was strong on spatial relations.
It now occurs to me that I
was never told about the significance of the spatial relations
intelligence, because no one really knew how that could benefit a student.
However, institutions of higher education, such as Johns Hopkins University,
have begun to recognize the importance of visual thinking, and how it benefits
general thinking and problem- solving skills.