In the everyday trenches of college, so much of our education can get lost in translation. When did being a college student solely become about getting our name on a diploma? I can only speak for myself, but I want to be an educated individual when I leave school in four years (hopefully). There are so many aspects of our education that are overlooked, which end up playing a crucial part in our future.
What if a liberal arts education is about thinking for ourselves?
How often do you find yourself going through the ebbs and flows of your “day in day out” life of college and actually question what you’re learning? This thought wracks my brain more with each class I take. By no means do I question the quality of our education; rather, I ruminate as to what it is we’re actually after in our course of study. Although this may sound jaded and like a mere obstruction to the ease of just going through the motions, I prefer to liken it to more of an honest assessment and a less shallow way of looking at our education. Getting equipped for a future career is undoubtably important, but learning to think and actually formulate our own creative thoughts is often the most overlooked facet of receiving a Liberal Arts education.
Getting an education is about finding passion.
“Find what you're passionate about”. This is perhaps the most banal statement you have heard, and you've likely heard it an absurd amount of times already this month. But as cliche as it is on the surface, it is perhaps this principle that actually creates meaning in our own education. Thriving in what we’re passionate about is so important. Not only that, but learning from our friends and being excited for what their passionate about is crucial in gaining a true perspective.
Getting an education isn’t all about the individual.
Like many, I often look to what the end goal of my education will get me; however, the material payoff is simply a means to an end. It is all too easy to construct meaning based off our own personal experience and to show little to no regard for anyone else. To quote David Foster Wallace, this is blind certainty, “A close mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn’t even know he’s locked up.” If we neglect the outlook of those closest to us, we become students with tunnel vision with no consideration for our blind spots. This is why being so dead-set on our future job could be our downfall. Relying on peers and professors and actually displaying some empathy to them allows for a true perspective. Getting an education involves learning from those around us.
Our education’s true meaning.
Our education is what we make of it. The end goal is not to simply “get a better job”, but instead to be furnished with the skills and thoughts that we learned -- not hard wired. We might as well make the most of our education, because there is a lot of money that goes into it.
