Friday, August 8, 2014

Looking Back

Something that I spend a lot of time thinking about is how my liberal arts education has prepared me to enter the job market. For liberal arts majors there is almost no end to the gloom-and-doom predictions by everyone from your aunt to Forbes about how unemployable and debt-riddled we'll be come graduation. I disagree (of course, or I probably would have chosen another major) for a myriad of reasons. One of the bigs ones is because I think that the expansiveness of the liberal arts is ideal for students that enter college confused about what they want to pursue. The comic below sums up a cynical version of what a lot of us stressed about while trying to pick a major. 

As a liberal arts student I've taken classes in a wide range of topics, loving some and hating others. I feel like this prepared me for how diverse internships and careers can be. While I really value all of the experience that my internships have given me, some of them served as examples for learning what I don't want to be when I grow up. My strong background in written and verbal communications is the foundation that I've built my core workplace skills off of, and for that I'll be forever grateful to the liberal arts. 

1 comment:

  1. Hi Marina! I agree with your statement regarding the liberal arts: having such a wide range of learning experiences definitely prepares you for life after college. I have noticed the same effect on my internship as well. When I applied to Wigs 4 Kids, I intended to intern with the social worker. Although I do work with him once a week, every other day is dedicated to a large variety of tasks completely unrelated to my intended field of work: drafting e-mails and letters, making salon appointments, leading volunteer projects, etc. My liberal arts background not only helped give me the ability to handle these tasks, but it also provided me with a skill foundation to build up. While I did go into college knowing exactly what I wanted to do, my liberal arts education prepared me for so much more.

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