Long, winding pathways painted bright orange by the vibrant autumn leaves and students laughing in a common area while studying and enjoying the cool fall air. That is what comes to mind for me when I think of college, more specifically a liberal arts education. I think that it is safe to say that we as a society have grown to admonish the idea of anything less than that picture perfect image when it comes to the college experience. The proverbial attempt at, not just a career, but mental enlightenment through the pursuit of knowledge is what we associate with college. Truly, one can receive copious amounts of concrete knowledge at a technical school, at least enough to perform a chosen career sufficiently, but is there something more than just that never-ending pursuit of a steady pay check? I dare say that the aforementioned notion of what the college experience should be has been engrained into our minds for a reason. Now, what we have to endeavor to determine is, what its that reason? Why does the much more pricey liberal arts education mean more to people than a degree from a technical school?

I mentioned the image of a scenic campus, but all of that comes at a pretty steep price. That could be one of the reasons that the liberal arts education is a lot more expensive than the education at a technical school, such as Northeast State Technical University which is located in Blountville, Tennessee. Waynesburg University boasts a lofty yearly tuition of $22,380 whereas this school is only $3,528 per year. That is an absolutely massive difference, and people are aware of it and yet they still choose to go into copious amounts of debt to receive this liberal arts education. Why does this education have such a grand appeal? I think that there are five reasons.

Number one, employability. It is no lie that the main reason people pursue higher education in any capacity is to get a job. Whether your field is humanities, engineering, or nursing you are going to need to be able to think critically. That is one of the top things that employers look for in the hiring process. That characteristic is one that a liberal arts education prepares you well for. The ability to think about the complex problems that you are going to be given in a critical and innovative way is essential to performing well in your field. A liberal arts education prepares you for a career in which mere black and white thinking is not in line with success. When it comes to preparation for a successful career there is nothing that can prepare you better than a liberal arts education, because of how you are taught to think about the different facets of your career.

Those qualities can also be coupled closely with good judgement, integrity, and the capacity for continued learning. A liberal arts education is definitely more challenging and work intensive than a technical education. This is due to the fact that you are not just learning the basics of your trade, but you are taking general education classes such as english and philosophy and applying them to your work. These classes which are not strictly necessary for most careers do contribute to a more difficult work load and make you work harder. This contributes both to having a good work ethic and that capacity for continued learning that employers look for. If someone has spent four years of their life studying and learning new things then they are definitely not going to stop there, but they are going to continue developing a strong thirst for knowledge that has been so engrained in them over the past few years.

Secondly, you will learn a lot, more than just how to perform a career. You will learn how to live as a functional and useful member of society. Living on campus at a university is definitely an adjustment, but it teaches you a lot about who you are and who you want to be. It is an experience that I would not trade for the world and I advise that everyone do it. This teaches you how to live with someone else, whom you do not know at the beginning. Cohabitation can be extremely hard, but it is something that has to be done as you mature and move into the adult world. You will also learn how to completely survive without your parents, which is really difficult. It is hard to be away from home and it definitely provides you with a lot of opportunities for introspection, but that is a good thing. You will learn a lot about yourself at a liberal arts university.

The third reason is that stereotypical college experience. Yes, this is one moment in life that we want to follow along with stereotypes. For me, one of the big things that I took into consideration when searching for a college was that it was a Christian university. That is one big things that a lot of liberal arts colleges, namely private ones, offer. It was a massive selling point for me personally. Being surrounded by likeminded people who want to spend time praising God together is amazing. Waynesburg University is a good example of a Christian college that integrates faith into the way they teach students. All students in all majors are required to take a biblical studies class. This academic study of scripture is something that you are not going to find at a technical university, but it is something that makes a liberal arts education so terribly unique.

The fourth reason is on campus activities. One of the huge draws that smaller colleges have is athletics. As a student athlete you are much more likely to get onto a sports team at a smaller college than you are at a big state school. These division three athletic teams boast a huge acceptance rate for players, and that is certainly a perk for anyone wanting to play sports in college. Other activities include Christ-centered activities such as praise and worship services and ministry opportunities. My personal favorite activity, however, is bingo night There is nothing funnier than watching a bunch of college students focus so intensely on a game of bingo.

The fifth and final reason for choosing a liberal arts college is the fact that students with a liberal arts education are going to have a liberated mind. This notion of liberating the mind is certainly something that must be taken into consideration as we try to determine why a liberal arts education is worth it. It is safe to say that no one likes the feeling of being the least intelligent person in the room, we like to know things. This is an evolutionary aspect of the human mind, knowing can be equated with survival. As we have grown as a species we have come to like a more abstract sort of knowledge, that is something that a technical school education simply does not provide. Now, I am not trying to say that because you attend a liberal arts college that you are going to be able to unlock the deepest and darkest secrets of the universe, but it is through this type of education that we are able to branch out from the concrete and think about things in a deeper and more meaningful way. As said before, students at a liberal arts college learn across disciplines and thus broaden their minds.

So now, as I think back to my freshman year in college I am reminded why I came to Waynesburg. It has changed me as a person, this education is changing me as a person and forcing me to look deeper into myself and the world that God created. It is making me work harder than I have before, but it is all worth it. I know that when I graduate I will not just be prepared to practice as a nurse, but I will be a better person. That is what a liberal arts education does, it prepares you to be the best human that you can possibly be, and that is a truly beautiful thing.