Image taken by author at Boston College in 2015
I completed my undergraduate studies at a liberal arts university. I picked the school without really knowing what that meant or what I wanted to study. But I also picked the one school out of the thirteen I applied to that did not have a college of engineering (at the time). I applied as a civil engineering major to every other university on my list. My incoming declared major to Boston College? Undecided – College of Arts and Sciences.
I just knew I liked Boston, I wanted to get the hell away from my high school classmates back in southern California, and that the campus was gorgeous. Good enough for 18-year-old me.
In the end, I stuck with what I knew and liked: science and math. I graduated as the only geophysics major in my class, with a fun little math minor to match. Along the way I took classes in philosophy, sociology, literature, theology, history, and fine arts to fill out my Boston College core curriculum requirements. At the time I was focused on fulfilling requirements. It was not until I hit the workforce that I noticed the importance of my liberal arts education and the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis.
Cura personalis is, in itself, a fascinating principle to read about. I may delve into this in the future from a secular perspective, as I am not Catholic nor am I a theologian, but for now if you are curious I recommend reading this article on Medium.
My first act of my career was as a geophysicist, putting my STEM degree right to work. My workplace was diverse, fast-paced, and full of new experiences. I was not the most brilliant geophysicist in the group, but I knew enough to be useful on projects and not make too many costly mistakes. It took some time to realize, but my real strengths at work stemmed from my broad liberal arts education, not the courses of my major.
What I found differentiated me as a key contributor was my systems mindset and ability to see the connections others might miss. I credit this ability almost entirely to my exposure to different subjects and thinkers during my time at Boston College.
Liberal arts education is designed to be interdisciplinary. Even so, the teaching approach of liberal arts is not universally interdisciplinary or connective in all educational settings. That is the difference maker. The coursework I completed as a geophysics undergraduate student weaved subjects together that may have been missed under different conditions. Mathematics and philosophy were intertwined as were physics and theology. There was nothing prescriptive or rigid about the material, and we were encouraged to cross-pollinate ideas and insights.
Of course, I sit here at age 35 and may be overly romanticizing my undergraduate education that I completed over 13 years ago. But there was, and is, something special about liberal arts education. I contend that for scientists it is even more critical to pursue a diversity of coursework as we see at liberal arts-focused institutions. Understanding the technical bases of one’s chosen subject matter is important (they are the building blocks of course). But exposure to what seem to be completely new ideas by taking a class on the History of Islamic World (the course I completed for my history credit), or an introduction to Buddhism (my brother’s choice for his theology credit) can not only open one’s worldview, but create a little spark of inspiration for where to build on that base knowledge next.
So, to all the parents out there whose child is dreaming of attending a liberal arts school who might be thinking, “What is the ROI on a liberal arts education?” Consider this alternative perspective…
The purpose of higher education is not to get a job. A job is an outcome. The purpose of higher education is to gain critical thinking skills, grow as an individual, expand one’s knowledge, and explore new things.
We can have all sorts of conversations about how expensive college tuition is, how expensive living is, and the pains of a tumultuous labor market. Those things are real and need to be considered. But I choose to remain idealistic about liberal arts education and its place in preparing young people to join the workforce.
Curiosity is a key indicator of future success. Exposure to a diversity of ideas, subjects, thinkers, scholars, and concepts early in life, including through higher education, can spark curiosity and teach students ways to nurture their intellectual curiosity through life.
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