Sophomore year in High School I took an honors course called Humanities (a combination of world history and literature). In the classroom hung a large banner that asked us every day “WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?” Our teachers never flat out told us, but we all matured a lot that year; we taught to think for ourselves and to begin to look outside our tiny prep school at the world around us.

Musing at this question—what it means to be human—seems to be the basic goal of a liberal education. We strive to find ourselves, to relate to others, and to communicate our experiences. Brickley says this ability to communicate and “‘training’ in how to learn” (326) are the most important things students can walk away with after college.

I think it’s important to realize that learning is not just sitting in a classroom; it is shaped by experiences; “this journey of education is lifelong” (321, Giametti). However, pursuing a liberal arts education, we a forced to think outside of ourselves and the situations we have happened to experienced, making this major strikingly different from any other. It is not fact-based or career-oriented; its roots lie in the human experience.

Newman says the knowledge we gain is a possession in itself, ‘it is something individual and permanent [977]” (320). I am happy to know that as I toil away in college, I am not merely memorizing facts and numbers. Even in my Statistics course (Modes of Reasoning), I am not simply being handed formulas and tables. We are taught to analyze information and to see situations in a new and different way.

Though I would be perfectly happy to never take another science or math course (which is possible within other majors), I realize it will be an important experience and challenge for me to plow through such subjects. I’m scared out of my mind about Plan II physics, but surviving that course is an accomplishment in itself. Having experienced Plan II, I will have tested out and become knowledgeable in an infinite amount of areas. Most importantly, I think I will have been taught to love to learn, to be up for any challenge, and to push myself to accomplish anything.