Word: awing
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Wonder's entry in Webster's dictionary suggests its distinctive essence. It includes such words as awe, marvel, doubt, wistfulness, uncertainty, curiosity. The wonder of which I speak involves embrace of the tentative, or inspired exploration, or enchantment with the extraordinary...
...sense of awe is perhaps strongest as young children, when nearly everything is exciting because it is new and bigger than we are. This sense subsides over time, and as we enter our teen years it becomes uncool to be impressed by anything. The uncertainty and tentativeness which underlie one's sense of wonder are still present, but they become masked, as teens embrace a disaffected, more-ambivalent-than-thou stance...
...amusing for jaded upperclass students, it cannot be denied that a sense of uncertainty, excitement, and eagerness for what is to follow is most evident on the faces of those who are new to Harvard's campus. This fall, these students will arrive at Harvard with their sense of awe intact...
...mastering the unknown, but I worry that our constant efforts to analyze and footnote may leave us numb to the beautiful and incapable of being moved by the magnificent. Just as an average teenager's desire to fit in leads him or her to squelch a sense of awe, the demands of our education may lead us to unlearn our natural sense of wonder...
...they don't. A Harvard education promises the chance to rub elbows with an incredibly diverse bunch of people; as first-years we think it's feasible to meet them all, become a part of their little worlds and offer them entrance to ours. But it can be equally awe-inspiring to think how radically different the lives of others are from your own, how no experience is going to bring you any closer to their worldview...