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The Liberal Artsas a Pursuit of Meaning
I am completely enamored of the idea of
the Liberal Arts. Perhaps “mildly obsessed” is a more accurate description. For
me, the Liberal Arts first started out as subjects I enjoyed, but I soon began
to associate it with my love of learning across a range of subjects. Though I
enjoyed the Liberal Arts’ goal of learning for its own sake, I was unsure if I
could viably integrate this into a career. However, after reading the excerpts
in the anthology I was thoroughly convinced that yes, this is what I want to
pursue in my education here and in my life in general. I strongly identified
with the goals of the Liberal Arts, and these goals made the pursuit of a
Liberal Arts education very meaningful to me.
One of the first
goals I identified with was the Liberal Arts’ insistence that an education
should be more than preparation for entering the workforce. As Paul Woodruff
explained, it is “education for active citizenship as opposed to vocational
training” (343I). As someone who is terrified of finding herself trapped in a
job devoid of meaning, this resonated with me. I wanted to pursue an education
that would “stretch beyond the quotidian in pursuit of purpose and meaning”
(Pink 331) instead of settling for practical, work-related training.
The other half of Woodruff’s statement,
“education for active citizenship,” was very appealing to me. In elaborating on
that goal, Giametti called for “developing, to the
fullest extent you can, the powers of your mind in all their rousing strength
and reach for what is noble” (321). This took the definition of a Liberal Arts
education one step further to incorporate an aspect of social responsibility. I
was intrigued and inspired. Suddenly, an education was not just about
intellectual instead of vocational training, but also about becoming a
responsible citizen. I feel like I will come out of my education stronger and
more resilient, independent, and able to hold to my values regardless of the
pressures of outside forces.
This emphasis of social responsibility
and the way it empowers an individual also tie into the meaning a Liberal Arts
education gives life. Sometimes it is difficult to find overarching meaning in
life, but the Liberal Arts finds meaning in the pursuit of truth. As Giametti explains, “each of us needs to find our own truth;
if and when we do, we will become free, liberated, one of the most important
meanings of the phrase ‘liberal arts.’” (320). The combination of intellectual training, active citizenship, and pursuit of
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