You do not gain being an intellectual from college as I have known many jerks who have masters degrees. One becomes an intellectual by observation,experience and education . Education alone does not do the trick but it tends to direct you to gaining knowledge you might not otherwise gain. What makes you an intellectual is what you do with this knowledge ,experience and observations of life.

Education is always better than none. But intelligence and education are not the same. Memorizing does not make you better at the subject. Using it and growing in it does. Many educated people are fools in so many ways. Even truly smart people can be foolish, but smartness comes from worldly wisdom and maturing. Using your brain makes you smarter.

I have the quality of being emotionally intelligent but not necessarily intellectual.

Yes. I think you are very bright. There are some educated people I would consider educated morons and there are some uneducated people I would consider highly intelligent. Have you considers free coding classes online to make websites? You would have more opportunities for high-paying jobs without the college debt. Also you are very slender. A lot of people would kill to have your figure.

You have written an extremely clear account of yourself and your wants - You are intelligent. However many degrees we get we are still at the bottom of another learning process.

how longs a pease of string? again this is someone else's perspective, not yours. just be you.

Which would you prefer to be when you die in 60 years time @Sarahroo29 - being an intellectual who can't boil a soft boiled egg or a wise person full of wisdom who has lived a life full of wonderment and wonderful experiences surrounded by offspring similarly imbued with wisdom?
[en.m.wikipedia.org]

An intellectual is one who asks deep, probing questions about the nature of things and pursues the answers in a combination of rational thought and in all legitimate information sources, including dialogue. Learning intellectual thought processes is easier in settings like college. It takes an extraordinary person to become an intellectual without organized educational institutions.

You are exactly right. In fact, superior to some collegially trained. Learning is a disposition. A pursuit. People nowadays that pursue some form of knowledge facilitated by the internet have equal potential. Learning is a lifelong endeavor, and these students jumping the hoops don't necessarily have what it takes in the realm of a driving curiosity in life and the cosmos, just a number relative to their peers in a competition to show fitness... not to develop knowledge for its own pursuit. You can become stellar girl, just don't give up the pursuit in itself for the product of recognition.

I believe that an intellectual would be someone that can understand and think things through more than a person that has knowledge of many things. At work I was called the king of useless knowledge cause I remember all kinds of crazy facts but I would not by any stretch of the imagination call myself an intellectual.

First and foremost, download a dictionary app on your smartphone. I'm fond of Webster's myself. When in doubt, look it up! And if you aren't actively in doubt, but have just a bit of uncertainty, look it up anyway. It'll teach you more about a word than you may have realized there actually was to it.

As for being an intellectual, I have no clue. Learn for the sake of learning and leave labelling to people who need to pigeonhole others. You're on the right track. Learn, expand your mind, be an amazing human! Go, You!

Just for fun: I draw a distinction between knowledge and intellect.

Knowledge is knowing things.

Intellect is knowing what to do with the things you know.

Thus, someone could be highly intelligent but know very little and they would seem not to be intelligent at all for being so acutely one sided in their knowledge.

Further, someone could know a TON of facts but have no idea what to do with them for lacking the intelligence to know/see how to put said facts together for good use.

Personally, I have felt both at times. I had just the right facts and the right intelligence to come up with a new idea that startled me (and gained me a patent, though IBM owns it). Right now, I don't have the 'spark' to know which way to go so, I have knowledge but don't have a direction to put it in which makes me feel somewhat like the 'knowledgeable' end of the spectrum. I suspect we all have times that seem "smart" and times that seem "knowledgeable" and that both pendulums swing from one end to the other depending on the situation.

"Intellectual" is not a what. It's a how.

You don't need an education from a formal institution of learning to have ideas for your mind to process. You can get plenty of ideas from living life--and if you think about them, and think about how you think, presto! you qualify.

A person who is well educated can be an intellectual, but is not guaranteed to be intellectual. I've known many people with advanced who couldn't pour piss from a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. I frequently think that all it takes to get a degree today is the money to pay for it and the ability to find you way to class. I've also known many people who were very intelligent, but could not afford a degree.

Some of the most intelligent people I've ever met left school with no qualifications and are working in mundane manual jobs, while some of the most stupid people I've met went to university and gained degrees (usually, law degrees; it seems it's possible to gain a law degree and become a mediocre lawyer simply by having a good memory, even if you have no brain to go with it).

I agree with @GrantSmith - education (or lack thereof) has no play in whether or not an individual is an intellectual; it's all about having an interest in the universe around you and a never-ending thirst to learn more about it. It may also be the case, as Grant suggests, that intelligence is not a prerequisite; however, the vast majority of people who have such an interest and thirst are more likely than not to be intelligent.

A book I wish I had when I was 13 or 14. It would have saved me years of pain.
[amazon.com]

Intellectualism isnt about education necessarily. It's about a lifestyle and mindset that promotes study (formal or informal) and learning for it's own sake. It's about exercising your brain and keeping it sharp by learning new things and applying them to your every day. You don't need too be very intelligent or have a very good education to be an intellectual.

If you're on this site, and you're following the comments and responses, and understanding them, sweetheart, you're NOT stupid, believe me. You obviously have an inquisitive mind and are eager to learn; two good signs your intellect is working just fine. As for the term "intellectual," that's one of those labels that evolves with a person, and is never self-applied. And yes, the Internet can be a wonderful thing.