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Ep. 6 — Gratitude Before Ambition: Facing Higher Education with Marcus Aurelius
In this episode of The Eric Vaz Show, Eric turns to the opening chapter of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, a beginning that feels unexpectedly quiet in a culture obsessed with achievement.
Rather than starting with discipline, success, or self-mastery, Marcus begins with gratitude. He reflects on the people who shaped him, teachers, family members, mentors, and the virtues he learned from each. Patience, fairness, calm, humility, and restraint take precedence over intelligence or status.
Set against the pressures of higher education, grades, comparison, performance, and the anxiety of “becoming someone”, this episode explores what it means to approach learning not as a test of worth, but as a process of formation. Eric reflects on how university life often pushes students to perform confidently rather than practice growth, and how Stoic philosophy offers a stabilizing alternative.
Drawing on Marcus Aurelius’ emphasis on character over ego, the episode reframes higher education as a place to cultivate steadiness, teachability, and resilience, rather than constant self-validation. Gratitude here becomes a grounding force, reminding students that learning is relational, slow, and deeply human.
This is not an episode about working harder.It is about starting from the right place.
🎙️ Episode Highlights
• Why Meditations begins with gratitude, not ambition• Higher education as formation, not performance• Character as more durable than grades or rankings• Learning to receive feedback without collapse or defensiveness• Gratitude as a stabilizing practice under academic pressure
🧭 Takeaway
You are not in higher education to prove that you are complete.You are there to be shaped.
When ambition is grounded in gratitude,learning becomes steadier,comparison loses its grip,and growth unfolds with less fear.
Written, hosted, and narrated by Eric Vaz, Ph.D.Produced by The Eric Vaz Show
© 2026 Eric Vaz — All Rights Reserved
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ericvazshow.substack.com
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By Eric VazIn this episode of The Eric Vaz Show, Eric turns to the opening chapter of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, a beginning that feels unexpectedly quiet in a culture obsessed with achievement.
Rather than starting with discipline, success, or self-mastery, Marcus begins with gratitude. He reflects on the people who shaped him, teachers, family members, mentors, and the virtues he learned from each. Patience, fairness, calm, humility, and restraint take precedence over intelligence or status.
Set against the pressures of higher education, grades, comparison, performance, and the anxiety of “becoming someone”, this episode explores what it means to approach learning not as a test of worth, but as a process of formation. Eric reflects on how university life often pushes students to perform confidently rather than practice growth, and how Stoic philosophy offers a stabilizing alternative.
Drawing on Marcus Aurelius’ emphasis on character over ego, the episode reframes higher education as a place to cultivate steadiness, teachability, and resilience, rather than constant self-validation. Gratitude here becomes a grounding force, reminding students that learning is relational, slow, and deeply human.
This is not an episode about working harder.It is about starting from the right place.
🎙️ Episode Highlights
• Why Meditations begins with gratitude, not ambition• Higher education as formation, not performance• Character as more durable than grades or rankings• Learning to receive feedback without collapse or defensiveness• Gratitude as a stabilizing practice under academic pressure
🧭 Takeaway
You are not in higher education to prove that you are complete.You are there to be shaped.
When ambition is grounded in gratitude,learning becomes steadier,comparison loses its grip,and growth unfolds with less fear.
Written, hosted, and narrated by Eric Vaz, Ph.D.Produced by The Eric Vaz Show
© 2026 Eric Vaz — All Rights Reserved
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ericvazshow.substack.com