Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Liberally Educated
What can we really get out of a college education? There are many
ways to answer this question that it is almost impossible to figure out.
Liberal education provides a diverse experience within a community of
educated students, a hopeful future for an academic career, and
opportunities to study at a higher level to face academic challenges, all in
order to explore ones passion and make it a reality. In his article Only
Connect, William Cronon states that liberally educated people have been
liberated by their education to explore and fulfill the promise of their highest
talents (1). It is at college where we figure out our true identity as an
individual and as a student body, but what motivates us to do these higher
level objectives in order to reach our dreams?
First off, diversity is one of the most important elements in todays
liberal education. I consider this to be true because diversity in general feels
more like a requirement (Cronon, 2) rather than merely stating the fact
that diversity is this way to find ones true self in college. If students have
some exposure to different groups of people (whether it is ethnic, social,
religious and so on) and have been offered a wealth of opportunities, then
they will have a better chance at finding their own way in life. In other
words, they are escaping from their tunnel vision and emerging outside to
gain a panoramic perspective of the world and a more complete view of
what the individual is supposed to be. This is what helps us maintain our
hope towards the future.
In terms of solving problems, it is nonexistent to find a college that
doesnt provide any sort of challenge for a student in order for them to
become successful. Academic rigor is an important tool for colleges to
prepare students for what lies ahead. Even William Cronon explains this in
his list of how people recognize liberally educated people (3). He goes on
by stating that these people respect rigor not so much for its own sake but
as a way of seeking truth (4). A true liberally educated person wants to
learn more whenever possible and they know that they have to surmount to
some challenges to get there. However, if a student is only attending college
in order to graduate, then whats the point of having to take a liberal
education in the first place? Whats the point of having to challenge that
student countless ways, only to realize that it was all for nothing? Whats the
point of having a frequent mindset of requirements rather than looking for
love at the end of the tunnel? Amid all these requirements we may be
tempted to forget the ultimate purpose of this thing we call a liberal
education (Cronon, 2). This quote is the premise of defining our way of
thinking when confronted with a challenging academic problem. In the
present, we, as a community, are being hypnotized to think that what we do
in the classroom is a means to an end. Of course, we do in fact find
ourselves struggling through tough challenges along the way, but are we
doing it for a purpose? Is there any purpose for a college education if we
Works Cited
Cronon, William. "" Only Connect..." The Goals of a Liberal Education." The
American Scholar
(1998): 73-80.
Hyman, Jeremy, and Lynn Jacobs. "Why Does Diversity Matter in College
Anyway? U.S.
News. 12 Apr. 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Marques, Susana, and Shane Lopez. "Research-Based Practice." Building
Hope in Our Children.
NASPOnline.org. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.