We’ve all heard Pratt students complain about how late they have to stay up each night and how impossible their problem sets are. No Trinity student in his or her right mind would want to switch into Pratt. Pratt is a dictatorship, compared to Trinity’s democratic freedom.

Yet, what if I told you that Pratt students are in fact happier academically than their peers in Trinity?

It is no secret that engineering at Duke is regimented. Even with no college/AP/IB credit from high school, a typical major in Trinity College requires only 10 courses. A major in Pratt, on the other hand, demands not only proficiency in math, chemistry and physics, but has a stone-set, four-year plan for anyone who dares to venture on such a draconian path.

Entering into Pratt with no preexisting science credit is like jumping into a pool of piranhas. Say goodbye to your former life and prepare to be eaten alive. You will only be able to select seven electives throughout your entire career at Duke. And of those seven, five have to be designated as social science or humanities. In other words, there is very little freedom in Pratt.

Yet, Pratt students are happier than students in Trinity.

Why is that?

It has to do with why conservatives are happier than liberals.

In 2006, a Pew Research Center survey indicated that 47 percent of conservative Republicans in the US were “very happy,” while only 28 percent of liberal Democrats specified the same self-description. Similar results were replicated in three other nationally represented studies in the US.

A 2008 study at New York University explained why conservatives are happier than liberals. Conservatives view economic inequality as something they cannot change. They are able to rationalize class differences better than liberals. Conservatives simply accept the disparities in the world.

Liberals, on the other hand, are unhappy because they see the socioeconomic inequalities as opportunities for change. And when nothing actually changes, liberals become frustrated and disheartened.

So how does this relate back to Pratt and Trinity?

Pratt students have less control over their academic career plans than Trinity students. There are only four degrees that Pratt students can choose from: biomedical, civil, electrical and computer or mechanical. Trinity, however, offers 45 majors, 47 minors and 21certificates. The choices available in Trinity College are literally infinite. There are more possible combinations of majors, minors and certificates than there are students at Duke.

As a result, when faced with comparably fewer choices than students in Trinity, Pratt students learn to accept what conservatives already believe: you can only control so much of the world. Pratt students begin to rationalize in the same way conservatives do. They assume they failed the last midterm because other people simply performed better.

Take my rationalization as an example: everyone in Pratt is forced to take EGR 53, so it’s all right if I don’t do really well in it. There are geniuses in the class who are able to get 100 percent. I’m no genius, so how can I compare? Luckily, I don’t need to worry. As long as I pass and graduate from Pratt, I will be able to find a job and live a happy life.

Trinity students, though, have so many choices that they are at loss in finding a major and sticking to it. There is always a sense of regret. What if I had been a psychology major? Would my GPA be in a better shape?

Also, Trinity College does not specifically train students in a profession, as Pratt does. In order to earn comparable salaries to students who graduate from Pratt, most Trinity students still need to go onto graduate school. Therefore, it is little wonder why Pratt students are relatively happier than Trinity students: they have to worry less about life in general.

Yet, knowing this, why am I in Trinity?

Different people derive individual happiness from different places. Some find happiness in high GPAs or knowing there is a set future ahead of them. Others believe that happiness is a process. It’s not the goal, but the path towards that goal.

I find my happiness in freedom. I relish my ability to choose whatever course I want. I usually will still be changing my classes around on the last day of drop/add.

I don’t work well with limits set by other people. Regardless of what happiness Pratt might bring in helping me escape self-blame, I find greater joy in making my own mistakes and creating my own future.

I enjoy the mystery of the unknown.

Pratt will plan out my four years at Duke, so I won’t have to worry and be unhappy. But it comes at the cost of my autonomy. My autonomy is my definition of self. If I were to ever give that up, who would I be as a person?

Rui Dai is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Wednesday.