How to refute the saying that "it is better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix"?

The argument against it is that some people would rather go to Tsinghua to be the bottom student when they fill in their volunteers for the college entrance examination than be the first in ordinary schools, that is, they would rather be the tail of a phoenix than the tail of a phoenix. So phoenix tail also has certain benefits, but the head of a chicken is always a chicken.