Choosing academics over acclaim
Kelly Fábrega
senior
The first several weeks of class are always fit for self-laudation. This is the time, when students in all colleges feel the need to introduce themselves to their fellow students not by extending hands horizontally and sharing a moment of mutual recognition but by raising their hands vertically in class as if to say, "This is who I am."
Except that these thousands of hands that rise simultaneously in lecture halls and conference rooms across campus do not represent an attempt to communicate with fellow colleagues. They are meant as bombastic displays of communicating one's own intellectual merit to the rest of the class. It's as if this particular student feels a need to prove to the rest of his or her colleagues that he or she deserves to be at Notre Dame. Or rather, that, "I am truly intellectually gifted (and I am trying to convince you here), despite the fact that I feel so miniscule in this ambience of inflated egotism."
This is surely cause for remorse. For its quite a regrettable affair when students are content to represent themselves as brilliant cerebral machinations instead of kind, mindful human beings. And in the process they overlook the opportunity to develop friendships; instead they choose rivalry. But in the end, no one can doubt that they are a brain that is made of what Notre Dame brains should be made of. And if anything, they've protected their own sense of worth.
I see this every day. Here are your perfect examples: recall the guy in your philosophy class who simply can't stop objecting to what the professor says because (even though he's never explored this particular topic in depth before) he really believes he can prove a scholar — who has dedicated decades of his life to this particular topic — wrong in his first attempt. Or the girl who adamantly insists that Descartes is an idiot because he entertained circular arguments. Let's not mention that, despite the fact that both students and faculty alike have a penchant for making jabs at Descartes, they know well they have not half the mind that he had. Or the brilliant chemistry T.A. who (sadly) takes refuge in Nieuwland Science Hall's dark corridors and waits for undergraduate students (a.k.a. quizzical looks) to ridicule. Or the young man who reduces feminist literature to the bitter diatribe of lonely single women. (No doubt, my comments will be attributed to some such bitterness.)
Some of us are (gasp) here to learn. And while we do appreciate genuine inquiry as an enriching component of education, we do not extend our thanks to those of you who interrupt the learning process in order to make the classroom an arena for your flagrant egotism. There is a certain lack of authenticity in the act of disguising rhetoric as inquiry. And more often than not your fellow classmates pick up on it. And sometimes (with all due respect) it's a little bit irritating when a student disrespects another student's attempt to learn because they want to be sure everyone in the class knows that they're exceptionally bright.
The truth is that very few of us (with the possible exception of some faculty members and those of you who believe the University is a place for self-laudation) doubt that any student at this school is very bright. And we don't need you to quiz the professors and their poor T.A.s on every single little detail — we trust that they're qualified. After all, they've dedicated a good portion of their lives to subjects we just barely graze.
Be critical; don't misunderstand me. Critique is an exemplary way of advancing the learning process. But please, examine your motives before you raise your hand in class. Is your question or comment really meant as genuine inquiry? Or does it simply disguise an egotistical demeanor?
Some of us don't care to be your fans. Some of us go to great lengths to scrounge up to the money to attend this University—for the purpose of learning. We don't really believe that the cost of our tuition is worth a circus of academic pedantics. Please don't waste our time.
Kelly Fábrega
senior
Welsh Family Hall
Sept. 7, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, September 10, 2001
