Art students are loudest and rowdy

Forget heavy drinking and partying associated with Medicine and Engineering students; Arts students are now said to be the rowdiest and noisiest lot in Kenyan campuses, according to an informal survey by Campus Vibe.

Makena Andrew studies at The University of Nairobi where BA students have been nicknamed ‘Being Around.’ Makena studies Linguistics, an arts course, and says that arts students are not mechanical. “We are more in touch with reality. To a science student, everything can be worked out with a formula. To us, our first instinct is to talk about it, and it works,” he said.

While he felt it was unfair to brand them idle and noisy, Makena agreed that those who agitated for ‘Comrades Power’ during student politics were from arts faculties, and argues that science students were only quiet because their punishing schedules.

“Scientists are better prepared for the workplace. They know things that are of practical use. They have meticulous attention to detail. They only know how to use a calculator. Life has no calculator,” he said.

But to Gathege Muchiri, a medical student, arts students are just too free and it is easier for them to be loud and outgoing because their academic lifestyle allows them.

“It isn’t their fault. Science and arts/humanities both have their own significance and should be given their due importance to keep a balance in society. They have more time at their disposal. This is the reality,” said Muchiri, adding that, “I am not saying they are dumb...they are flexible.”

Moi University lecturer, Dr Duncan Omanga, said that while science students are trained to have solutions to challenges in linear ways, arts students are taught that different paths lead to the truth. “This might explain why they are more explorative and adventurous, with multiple ways of solving problems,” noted Dr Omanga. He observed that, “If they have too much time in their hands, then it is the lecturers to blame, not the students.”