Although Andover promotes “a deeper awareness of the global community,” we, as PA students, are often content with only thinking about our own community. This relative isolation can be seen as both positive and negative. We are protected from the horrors that we so often hear discussed, but we are neither aware of nor are we involved in these events to a further extent than raising money for a Haitian earthquake or some such charitable action.
Taking such actions can only be beneficial, but wouldn’t be even better for us to be educated on global events than to simply toss a few coins into a can for charity? There is no doubt that PA students feel sympathy for the Haitian earthquake victims, but how many of us actually know what the ramifications of such a catastrophic event are?
Many Andover students travel, both abroad and within the United States, but the vast majority of us will never have to be a part of the disasters and wars we claim to understand. Even students who participate in service trips are well protected and live comfortably during their stays.
Do we know anywhere near as much about the genocide in Darfur as a child stuck in the middle of conflict? On the other hand, one could take the “ignorance is bliss” approach and be perfectly happy with being completely unaware of what happens around the world. Who could say this is wrong?
A common goal of most people is to be happy, so is this type of ignorant person simply achieving his goal in his own way? It may seem like taking the easy way out, but does hearing about these horrific events really help us in our sheltered lives, lives that so many of us would prefer to lead as adults in the real world?
Realistically, I doubt that I will find myself in the midst of a massive genocide in Africa or in an earthquake in Haiti. As much as it would be my goal, and hopefully the goal of my peers, to do as much as possible to help the victims of these horrific events, it is a simple fact that such happenings are not a part of our isolated lives here at Phillips Academy. The question remains: what causes this seclusion from the outside world?
Without a doubt, the amount of work in our lives as students contributes to our lack of knowledge. Given all of our academic, musical, athletic, theatrical and other extracurricular commitments, it can be difficult to find the time to relax, sit down and look through the news. Thus we are trapped in a rather ironic situation, where our quest for knowledge in turn deprives us of certain information.
When we are so caught up in compiling an extensive transcript for college, many of us forget that there is a world outside of our academia and that there are other important things to know that are not factored into our GPAs. Unfortunately, we need to think realistically. Will it be more beneficial for us to spend that extra time on our homework to get that 6.0, or would it help us more to educate ourselves about what is going on beyond Market Basket to the north and the bell tower to the south? We may never know. All we can do for sure is keep doing what we’re doing inside our beloved, isolated Andover environment.
Kian Ivey is a new Lower from Shelburne Falls, MA.