Liberal Arts: Worth Every Penny

Stores are littered with back-to-school products. Virginia just finished up their tax-free back-to-school deals. Commercials are airing with High School Musical-esque dance numbers that showcase the most stylish fashions for youth. We are heading back to the daily grind of education while Wal-Mart and Target are making a killing on plastic bins, pens and denim.

I spent the weekend with my mom and we browsed over the newspaper’s front page that read “Back to Back-to-School Shopping.” Mom told me that back-to-school gear for her 3 children, circa the 90’s, cost $300 a year. She spent money on anything from replacing cheap backpacks to pens to athletic wear. I asked her if she regretted it and she replied; “I never regretted anything that had to do with your education. However, I like having that $300 lying around nowadays.”

My sisters and I have all graduated from 4 year colleges and not one of us is in our field of study. I asked my mom if she felt like it was a waste of her money used on our educations. Once again, she told me that she regretted nothing about spending money on our educations.

The fact is; a Liberal Arts education is, of course, designed to train you in the major that you desire, but it also trains you in so much more. I would not be able to stand before a bunch of teenagers in a lecture hall and tell them about BC without my public speaking class. I learned how to deal with difficult situations and people in my psychology class. I am able to write this blog because of my Argumentative and Analytical Writing class. My algebra class did not kill me, so it only made me stronger. My education was well rounded.

My sisters and I are employable not because we majored in Fine Arts, Urban Planning or Sociology. We are employable because we earned Liberal Arts educations. So, my parents are 100% right in having no regrets about our educations.

~ Maggie Lavoie