Written by Jeb Bell
Before I go stepping on toes, let me explain myself. Now, there are many reasons why people go to college, and I am not immune to a very popular sentiment that a large population of college students share. I am at college because, when it came time for me to make the decision, I believed that it was just what people did after high school; a way to push off the real world for another four years. But this article is simply an appeal to a romantic notion of what should be at the heart of a true “liberal arts” education, which has been lost, as well as the tremendous opportunity college presents in general, which is often squandered.
“Liberal arts” is a term with which everyone is familiar. We all understand that the goal of a liberal arts education is to develop well-rounded individuals, to give us the ability to adapt to an ever-changing work world. Yet it used to be something so much more. The original liberal arts university attempted to instill in students that the concept of total truth had to be viewed and understood from a number of angles. These angles consisted of the classic schools of thought: science, art, music, mathematics, history and moral philosophy. In order to gain the authority and capability of understanding the world, students had to master the ability to continue independent learning in each of these disciplines. What we seem to have now is a group of students who, while looking at their major’s requirements, see taking a mandatory biology or history class as a small speed bump in the road to attaining their diploma instead of a rewarding opportunity.
The general attitude among a number of my peers has become one that limits college to the place that prepares you to earn more money than those who have entered the work force after high school. Another fashionable idea is that college is where you will be taught the skillset to be a good elementary school teacher, businessman, doctor, lawyer, etc. Plainly put, college is simply what you do after high school.
This is all well and good, and while statistically this is the move that will make us the most money down the road, this is where we differ from our ancestors and their reason for attending college. The university should function as more than just a vocational training center.
The university held a different objective during its infancy: an objective held by students as well as professors and founders. It was only those deemed intellectual elites who were able to attend college, not those who had the ability to apply for loans and take on the heavy burden of debts.
Today, those who display aptitude at the high school level with a high SAT or ACT score are desirable to universities and are rewarded with scholarships and financial aid. When some of these same students are accepted to a university (an incredible opportunity in itself), they must decide on a major. Now the process for deciding a major is a complicated process for many students, as they are essentially deciding what to do with the rest of their lives. Everyone can see how this process becomes even more complicated when these students have no idea why they are even in college. One of my professors, like most professors on campus, plays the role of advising students. She says that commonly, the first question she is asked is, “How much money will a worker in this field earn?” This is an undeniable factor behind many students’ selection of a major. It seems that many are trading the ability to understand the world around them for a paycheck. Rather than picking a field that they will enjoy for the rest of their lives or one that will contribute something beneficial to society, the focus is limited to monetary gain.
What is most disturbing though, is that learning stops when the bell rings. Once class is over, “me-time” begins. Make no mistake, I enjoy free time as much as the next history major with big glasses, but I simply cannot accept that what I just sat in class listening to for an hour should have no impact on the way I conduct myself. I feel that it is most commendable for one to take a subject being presented in class and apply it to their own worldview, asking the question, “How does this affect me?”
Times have changed, as well as the highest values in our society. An essay published in 1853 sheds some light. William S. Plumer, a professor lecturing at the University of Virginia said this:
“To answer a matter before he hears it… would save these young gentlemen the toil and labor of demonstrating problems and theorems. They might be persuaded to believe all things that are told them without looking at the evidence on which they rest. Life at the University would then be a time of elegant leisure to be sure.”
As college students, we should constantly be weighing the facts presented us in class against our perceptions of truth. This is our responsibility. Anything else is little more than a waste of time.
