Liberal Arts colleges are magical places. With Hobbitlike charm, Narnian landscapes, and a cast of professors and faculty straight out of Hogwarts, Liberal Arts is the definition of "unique." Growing up, I attended several variations of this type of education in elementary, middle, high school, and now college. Though it does seem like a strange way to go about acquiring an education to "outsiders," I can truly admit that it's worth it. With time, you learn to appreciate the quirks and eventually realize it's not such a weird system after all. So, as a shoutout to my fellow Liberal Arts college students, here are some things that only we can understand...
1. Everyone knows your business
There’s no such thing as secrets
2. You spend 99% of your time on campus
3. The other 1% is spent at one of three local coffee shops or the grocery store
4. And the closest thing you actually have to a real grocery store is Walmart
5. You only have one Starbucks in town
6. The nearest city or town is at least an hour away
7. Chances are, you’ve met a majority of the student population within your Freshman year
8. Classes like “History of Whaling” and “Viniculture” exist
9. If you’re a freshman or transfer student, everyone wants to be your friend because you’re new
If you’re new, they WILL find you.
10. You call your professors, the school president, and all other faculty members by their first name
11. Your gen eds consist of classes in LITERALLY every area of study
You’re a bio major? Oh in that case, take this Art History class, and this Rhetoric of Race course, and go ahead and enroll in Psychological statistics and Japanese 101 while you’re at it
12. Everyone dreads the Freshman seminar
No offense to the Encounters enthusiasts out there
13. There’s a good chance you or another student won’t be wearing shoes to class
14. Longboards, scooters, and unicycles are common modes of transportation
15. Slack-lining and circus tricks are daily activities
16. Chances are, you’ve been mistaken for “indie” on multiple occasions
17. Ultimate Frisbee is a nationally recognized sport
18. Your school is probably located in a really cool state
19. Your mascot is probably lame
20. It takes no more than 5 minutes to walk to every class, dorm, or dining hall
21. You’d consider you and your professor to be “tight”
22. You probably know every student within your major
23. A class of 15 is just “too big”
24. You and the dining hall cooks are on a first name basis
24. You can never answer what you’ll end up doing with your degree, but you know it sounds cool regardless
25. That one adult student who’s 40+ that appears out of nowhere in one of your classes
26. Parties last no later than 12:30 a.m.
27. Homework on a Sunday or Saturday is a favorite pass time for many students
28. Frisbees are constantly flying around campus
29. No one’s ever heard of your school and they usually forget what state it’s in once you tell them
30. Everyone you meet is super creative
31. You have to do ALL assigned reading for your 5 person discussion class
32. Your professor WILL notice if you miss class
33. Your school is in the middle of nowhere
34. The lack of diversity is absurd
35. Chances are you’ll see at least 5 people you know any time you walk off campus
