This past week has been a week of many thoughts and much reflection. So much is going on in my brain. I have been reflecting a lot on my education and education in general. (Side note: I am quite excited to explore education reform next semester with my class.)
Overall, I am frustrated for various reasons. Number one, I wish I could fit more into a semester so I could take more classes and explore more fields of study. However, it doesn’t take too long to figure out that there is only so much one can do in 15 weeks.
Number two (and this is a big one): I am still struggling with my choice of major, French. I absolutely love the French language and French culture. However, this love doesn’t prevent me from feeling insecure about my choice of study. My feelings and thoughts about this seem to go through cycles. Some days I get so excited about what I am studying and I feel confident about it. I realize that a liberal education has the potential to open up many doors in the future because there is no one prescribed path. Other days I feel like I should just start from scratch and journey into the realm of some sort of STEM major. These are the days I let society win.
There are so many voices out there that only seem to value engineering, business and science. Sometimes I don’t know how to block these voices out when they are constantly trying to make their way into my ears and to my head. I worry about what I will be doing in three years and how I will or will not be utilizing the knowledge and experiences I am gaining in my field. I question how one attaches value to a specific field of study. Why is studying engineering “better than” studying French or English Literature? Is it based on base salary after graduation? Why are majors in the Liberal Arts looked down upon in our society? These are all questions that do not have clear-cut answers (or at least none that I can think of) but this is a thought process that I would like to stand up to and change. I want to be proud of my major and take ownership of it. I want to make society see the value in a liberal education and develop a more positive attitude towards it.
One of the ideas that was put onto the table as a potential topic for our policy paper for next semester was promoting a Liberal Arts education. How do we make society renew its faith in Liberal Arts majors? This is one of the big challenges facing Liberal Arts students today.
I would love your opinions on this matter!
PS. I want to say that I have nothing against people studying STEM majors, please do not think that.