Apr. 5, 2007

The value of a liberal arts education
Erin Siebel
siebele@marietta.edu

Coming to Marietta College as a freshman, I really had no idea what a liberal arts education actually meant. It was just some broad, fancy term that I knew meant I wasn’t attending a state school. But beyond that, I really didn’t know what I was getting into. Now, on the verge of graduation from our beloved school, I think I’ve finally realized what it means to get a liberal arts education.

A liberal arts education means you cannot stay in your bubble. Instead of finding the one thing we’re passionate about and perfecting our individual talents, we are forced to venture into other worlds. We’re forced to learn something new and to see what our peers are interested in.

For me, this means I had to take two art classes. While I grew up assuming I was some young Picasso, I eventually came to the realization that I was never meant to be an artist. But here at Marietta College, I was able to lose a little bit of that self-doubt and learn some of the skills necessary to draw a semi-accurate depiction of the world around me.

I also chose to take ceramics, where I was able to physically create something with my own hands. While I’m not ashamed to admit that I usually dreaded attending these classes where my weaknesses were put on display, I don’t regret taking them. I was able to stretch beyond my comfort zone and enter a world I never would have seen if I had attended a different school.

My liberal arts education began the first day here at MC, with my FYSE class on Women and Jazz. At the time, this seemed like the most ridiculous waste of time.

What could I possibly get out of learning about the history of jazz music and the various female musicians? But by being forced to take this class, I found that it was something I actually enjoyed and I remember many of things we covered in this course still today.

We all might gripe every now and then about how unnecessary it is to take these classes that do not interest us whatsoever. We feel like we’re wasting our time that could be better spent honing our skills in our specific area of interest. But what kind of person would that make you? You would be one-dimensional, with little knowledge of the world around you.

The value I’ve found from this liberal arts education is one I’m confident in saying will benefit me in the many years to come. I’ve learned that when you step outside your proverbial box, you see a world you didn’t know you were missing.