For the past two years I’ve begun almost every morning and finished every night in a dorm room. I spend my days shuffling from class to the library to my on-campus job to the closest available coffee distributor—all in the name of the college experience. Just like the other college kids with whom I go to school, I register for classes, show up (OK, most of us show up), do the homework (fine, 93.4 percent of the time) and finish the semester as best I can. Yet after two more years of this, I will not graduate with a major or a minor, but I will have a Bachelor of Liberal Arts Degree.
Not all liberal arts schools are like this, but from what I’ve heard, when you strip the curriculum down to the bones, my own academic experience is like many other college experiences. The difference is mostly due to the social reactions from my family and friends, as well as the range of different disciplines I can pick up at any time. Of course, there are reasons why this system isn’t for everyone; sometimes I wonder if it is for me.
If you don’t have a “major,” it’s a little odd to pin yourself down when someone—or some survey, form or job application—asks for your major. Often the question actually asks, “What was your focus in college?” or “What do you like to study?” Most people I know can list a few of their favorite subjects and then ramble on about social metrics or Foucault. If someone asks because they’re trying to assign stereotypes to me, well, that’s their narrow-minded loss.
Then there’s the question of course freedom versus course requirements. From what I understand, most majors have a set of courses one must take (right?). At a school with an open curriculum, I sometimes look at the course listings with their elaborate names and fluffy descriptions and feel a little overwhelmed. Everything sounds interesting. Nothing sounds pragmatic. Everything sounds essential. Nothing’s certain, anyway, because there’s no guarantee I’ll get in the course. What do graduate schools want? Would they take me seriously if I don’t have a “major?” What am I even doing? (“Yes, they will take you seriously if you take yourself seriously,” now turn off 21 Pilots and stop stressing out.)
Aside from the micro academic-identity crisis and the responsibility of “finding your own path,” the no-major life is four years of freedom to study what you want. Because I don’t have a major, and because my particular school has minimal requirements, I can sign up for classes in any department, try new fields even as a senior, and do the crazy amounts of reading for any department on campus. As long as I hit 120 credits requirement and dabble with a variety of subjects, I’m free to graduate, run out of these gates and then fall flat on my face on the other side of college.
No major or double-major, no matter what you do, the biggest difference from my perspective would be how much work you put into whatever degree you choose to pursue. Especially in a world where “the media” claims that it doesn’t matter what you major in, I don’t feel as though I’m missing out on an essential college experience by not graduating with a specific subject on my degree. So majors? I take ‘em or leave ‘em. I’ll be studying myself to sleep most night regardless.
