Avoid any rush to judgment
By Michael Pellicio
In my second year at Santa Clara, I have learned what many students haven't learned in four. On a daily basis, I actively participate in discussions with my friends and fellow students regarding issues as serious as politics, as controversial as "The Real World," and as trivial as fast food. What I have so painfully, but assuredly, learned from my freshman year is to avoid labeling the opinions of others without really understanding them.
If there's anything you are sure to find on a college campus, it is an ideological slugfest. Students live for this -- mostly because it gives them a chance to demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired and partly for their ego and the need to assert themselves as an Alpha male. I know the reasons for engaging in these discussions very well.
However, before you participate in these intellectual fisticuffs I extend a warning: Don't expect your opinion, however valid and well explained, to be heard. The veterans of these discussions are usually jaded to the point where your opinion will go in one ear and out the other. Or rather, in one ear and out the other in a horribly disfigured and misunderstood fashion.
This leads me to the conclusion that I was ahead of the game last year. As a defiant freshman looking for a fight, I already had my battle gear on. In only one quarter at this school, I had what usually takes kids four years at a higher institution of learning to obtain: an aura of condescension that you could cut with a knife.
Luckily, largely through respectful discussions with those not wearing battle attire, I have learned to be open-minded towards others' views while still maintaining my own contrasting beliefs. I am always interested in talking about these issues, but I no longer interpret opposition as fighting words.
Similarly, I take the time to understand contrasting arguments. Never have I felt stupider than when directing a diatribe at a person as a result of a misinterpretation on my part. And that is the most common mistake students make: ignoring the greater focus of one's opinion while assuming the opinion to be inherently inferior.
It is by no means easy to be the bigger man. When someone twists what you've said it is difficult to turn the other cheek. But with these people, anything but turning the other cheek is only to be met with more rage.
If there is any advice I can give Santa Clara students looking to engage in these discussions, it is to avoid rushing to judgments. Never will you look more foolish than when you direct a criticism based on a rushed judgment at a misunderstood friend.
* Michael Pellicio's column appears once a month. He can be reached at mpellicio@scu.edu.