Fear stupefies student thought and views

By Amanda Melchor     8/21/08 7:00pm

The start of the school year means different things for different people. For new students and freshmen, this week marks the beginning of their "adult" lives and a slew of experiences, both good and bad, that life brings. For seniors, a new school year translates to the beginning of the end, one last hurrah in the final year of college and a brazen effort to maximize the potential for fun while attempting to secure a semblance of a stable future post-Rice.But for me, the beginning of the year means something else as well: another year of garnering and showcasing student opinion and thought. One of the great things about Rice is the diversity of its students and the experiences they bring to the academic and social table. With so many intelligent people who possess an endless variety of backgrounds and views, student opinion should be flowering - and flooding my inbox. Sadly, this is not the case.

One downside to the brilliance of Rice and its students is a fear of failing and appearing dumb. For example, a professor will ask a question and look at his or her class in expectation of an answer. The aforementioned class, contrary to expectations, will not raise their hands to answer but instead stare at the professor and their fellow students sheepishly or blankly, refusing to answer the question. The silence will drag on for what feels like an awkward eternity until some brave soul timidly raises their hand and in a small voice correctly answers the question. This phenomenon manifests itself in most classes at least once, occurring regardless of major and extends to the Thresher opinion section as well. I know what you may be thinking: "Why would bright students who have studied and know the answer refuse to give it?" It stems from a fear of sounding or appearing stupid and wrong in front of smart people.

Newsflash: All of us are smart and deserving of being here, or we would not have received an acceptance letter. It would be wrong to consider us stupid when asking any question or giving any answer or opinion. We are students, and as students we should not expect ourselves to answer every question right every time; this early in our academic careers it would be dumb to think that we should have all the answers. Learning occurs through making mistakes, and we have not yet made enough mistakes to learn much. This somewhat long metaphor extends to student opinion. An informed opinion, like learning, is cultivated by making arguments and seeing how those arguments stand against other views and facts. Students do possess opinions - an educated one at the very least - and should not be afraid to voice them out of fear of sounding stupid. Do not be afraid to state an opinion merely because someone else might disagree with you and think you "stupid."

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No, your opinion will not be right every time. You will inevitably at some point in life cross paths with someone who disagrees with you and can successfully and somewhat painfully refute your opinion. Does this mean that simply because you were proven wrong you are no longer worthy of an opinion? Not at all. It just means you need to rethink your previous views and evaluate them against opposing evidence and views. Who knows? You might find a whole new way to approach an issue and persuade more people to see things your way. Like changing your major at Rice, changing your opinion does not disgrace your character or mean that you lack moral fiber. It simply means you have changed your point of view and now see things from another perspective. It is the truly stupid and ignorant that refuse to acknowledge and evaluate others' views and opinions.

So pick up a pen, sit down at your keyboard and commit those views to paper or Microsoft Word in a journal, blog or more importantly the Thresher. Unless an open forum like the Thresher is used to discuss student ideas and views, student thought threatens to stagnate, making all this fancy education moot. Pluck up your courage, send in your thoughts and put the fear out to pasture.

Amanda Melchor is a Hanszen College senior and opinion editor.

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