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Big difference

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 28, 2009

The difference between ignorant and arrogant is "I don't know" and "I don't care." That's an English joke, but it establishes the point. When it comes to individual decisions - the ones we like to perceive as life-altering - we're either ignorant or arrogant.

If you're not a high school senior, then you know one, or you've already been one. Whichever it is, the second semester of senior year is important.

Academically, students consider it weak, since they've already applied and have been accepted to college. At this point, the importance factor trickles back in. If the senior's not fretting about grades, it's the planning process. The questions of where to go and what to study dominate.

The economy doesn't hurt either, to an extent. It makes staying in state for an undergraduate education attractive. On the other hand, the economy complicates the question of what to study. The tenuous success a liberal arts degree offers doesn't compare to the promise of a degree like prelaw or premed. It becomes a matter of following the money or going to graduate school and pursuing a doctorate in a subject like English in order to obtain an ounce of success, as measured by the dollar.

At the same time, the comfort factor needs to be evaluated. It is at this point that ignorance and arrogance enter the stage. It's logical to enroll at a school that excels at a particular major and has a level of prestige attached to it, e.g. studying engineering at the University of Florida as opposed to Florida State University.

It is, on the other hand, logical to enroll where one feels the potential to succeed outside of the classroom, too. Part of the growth process is communication. If an individual feels constricted in an environment, chances are the person won't be comfortable seeking help, and will fall behind. So, perhaps an engineering major should end up at FSU if he or she would be more at home in Tallahassee than Gainesville.

Ultimately, it's ignorant to dismiss possibilities because they don't initially strike us as appealing, and it's arrogant to refuse other opportunities because the initial prestige is masked.

Sierra Mision is a senior at Gulf High School.

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