So I’m going out to get a bite to eat after work. I stop at a red light, and I see a car next to me with a “Penn State Behrend - Engineering” sticker on it. I think to myself, what an idiot. I mean, I’ve seen 'em all. “Lacie - Lacrosse”, or “Mark - Basketball” coupled with a cute little white silhouette of a boy shooting, but this seems to go above and beyond absurd.
I have a plain old “Penn State” sticker on my car, but that’s the extent of it. I may be a tad hypocritical here, but listing your major (to me) comes off as another way of saying “Look at me! I studied what is usually considered a challenging and difficult major! I’m probably better than you.” It’s just condensed into one word. Granted, displaying “Penn State” could easily be perceived as a pompous brag to anyone that didn’t go to school, so I’ll accept that I’m probably a hypocrite here.
Overreacting? Am I a hypocritical asshole? Are any and all forms of car sticker brags acceptable? Interested in Doper opinions!
EDIT: I also attended PSB, and engineering degrees are very common there. Easily the most popular field of study. The VAST majority of them were always insufferable in terms of making sure all the lesser LibArts/finance/economics/etc. peons were aware of it.
Penn State Behrend is a 4-year university just outside of Erie, PA… did you know this?
I have no problem with someone supporting their particular school/major. You might think of it as a sneak brag, but it could just as well be school pride, or a number of other reasons. Why do people have “University Alumni” license plate frames, or bumper stickers, etc.?
I sure hope so!
I agree with most of your post, though. Like I said, I’m probably just as much of a stealth bragger with plain ole’ “Penn State” on my bumper. I just don’t understand why there’s any need to get so specific. See, here’s the distinction: If I put “PSB - Political Science”, I’d probably be universally laughed at.
Didn’t get the edit in time. I also thought when you said that you attended “Penn State” that you meant State College, PA.
I could see how you might perceive it as a sneak brag but you really could say the same thing about any university sticker/license plate frame, really. I’m not a big fan of putting those on my car, because I don’t care if anyone sees it or not. Wouldn’t really bother me if someone else put it on theirs, though.
Yeah, it’s ultimately no different. It’s just the first time that I’ve actually seen someone get that specific. I see Pitt, La Roche, Thomas Jefferson, WVU, etc. all the time. I don’t usually think twice about it. I don’t know, it just seemed odd to me.
Also, it seems that PSB has a separate school of Engineering. I think this transcends a simple major, some people identify primarily with their specific college rather than the University as a whole. They (the subject-specific schools) can really be quite insular.
Well yeah, all of the majors are broken down into categories or “schools” in the PSU system. Political science, for example, is in the School of Liberal Arts. Obviously, putting “PSB - Liberal Arts” would be silly, in my opinion. I can safely say that I’ll probably never see that in my lifetime.
Something went wrong along the way. College/university stickers were meant to put on the car of the student’s parents. It was bragging about how smart their kid was, how lucky they were to get him out of the house, and well off they were that they could afford to send their kid to college to get him out of the house.
That’s actually the only reason my car has the sticker. It’s my parents’ car and has been “bestowed” to me more or less. I’m not about to scrape off the sticker, though
To me, slappin’ “Engineering” up there just screams “I’m really REALLY better than you.”
Yeah, Liberal Arts is so varied and has so many majors that it’s kind of pointless. At least Engineering is only about 4 different degrees (give or take, I’m not delving into the PSB site any further). I attended a college of Chemistry which offered two (Chemistry and Chem Engineering).
Sounds like the problem is you. I mean do you get pissed off at people who went to the University Park campus? Or MIT for that matter? Why should people have to tip-toe around their acomplishments because you feel insecure about yours?
I’m not insecure about my accomplishments. I’m totally okay with the fact that I got the degree that I did at the school that I did.
I just found it funny that he actually put his major on his car. First time I’ve ever seen it.
I wouldn’t even bat an eye at MIT or PSU main campus. Putting something like that is very common. It just seems like a ridiculous above-and-beyond step to me, that’s all. Easy, there.
Naw, main campus is in the middle of the state. State College, PA. How appropriate
