Why a liberal arts education is definitely worth it

When I was in high school, I thought success meant becoming rich.

I thought money was a primary concern, and happiness was secondary. But after learning more about the world of finance and accounting, I decided that I truly could not spend all of my time studying either. Bullet dodged.

Even at the best of times college isn’t easy, so you may as well study something you actually want to learn about.

What does an education equip you to do? Get a job? Make money? One could argue an education should provide you with a job that pays well.

But a great education should do more than supply you with a comfortable office job. A liberal arts education, drawing from many different fields of study, supplies you with a broad range of knowledge.

Let’s face it, you had no idea what you wanted to do when you first got to college. Chances are, either you had a major in mind and changed it at some point, or you had no idea what you wanted to study and chose your major because of an elected course. No matter what happened, you will still have to learn a bit about everything.

Apart from learning about a lot of different things, studying a variety of subjects like philosophy, theology, and math forces a person to think on different levels. If one simply took business classes their whole time at college, how would he or she learn how to think about the world through the lens of a basic philosopher, theologian, or psychologist?

The world does not operate on one or two levels. Life is filled with dense layers of social interactions that need to be navigated through and studied by worldly people. In addition to these factors, a liberal arts education allows students to find the subject in which he or she is most passionate about. The majority of students do not arrive at school with a field or sub-field that they deeply care about.

This idea relates to finding a job that pays well. If an individual is exposed to many different courses, it is more likely that they’ll will find something they love to study. If that person is passionate about a particular subject, they’ll find it easy to devote more time and energy into advancing a cause in that field.

Think about it. Most of smartest people in the world became the best by exploring the world around them. Restricting yourself to one subject because it can promise money or power will not make you happy. I know this from experience.

The last advantage to a liberal arts education is the bonds you can create with different people. Imagine the unique perspectives and opinions that are formed when students, of various fields of study, congregate in the same classroom to study one subject.

A liberal arts education is so special because you come to understand people unlike yourself through shared experiences in the classroom. A Classics major will give an insight that can make a significant impression on a Physics major, and vice versa.

Having friends with distinct academic interests contribute to deeper educational experiences and relationships, because there is always something new to talk about. As my parents always told me, “I don’t care what you do, but do what you love and you will be successful.”