Maddie McDonald
Professor Frank
FYS 110
September 25th 2021
Freedom of the Liberal Arts
Going to college undecided might strike people as an odd choice, but who’s to say I haven’t taken the smartest approach out of them all. When has being small minded ever benefited anyone? Using articles “What the Best College Students Do” by Ken Bain, “7 Major Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts” by Sanford J. Ungar and “How Praise Became a Consolation Prize” by Carol Dweck we see the benefits of combining a growth mindset with the liberal arts courses. The successful aspect of liberal arts education comes from being able to use a growth mindset. To take these courses it is important to have one because you are being opened up to so many different choices and majors. The liberal arts enables students to explore majors by giving them the opportunity to tap into their freedom and take control of their future as they choose the courses they take at their own will.
Upon coming to college, we have all been faced with lots of new people and lots of new opportunities. What’s important is how you act on these experiences, which is where the growth mindset comes into play. American psychologist Carol Dweck describes the growth mindset as people believing that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, and she advocates that this view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Whereas she claims, “When students had more of a fixed mindset – the idea that abilities are carved stone, that you have a certain amount and that’s that – they saw challenges as risky” (Dweck 2). By saying this Dweck shows us that the students that get stuck in their own heads may end up worse off than the ones who have their minds open to new opportunities. When coming to college already having picked a major, you have the courses that you’re supposed to take all lined up for you and it’s almost like you’re following a path that will take you directly to your future. Now what if you don’t end up liking that path? Then what? Are you out of a job forever? No of course not, in his article ““7 Major Misperceptions About the Liberal Arts”, american journalist Sanford J Ungar exclaims that in, “A 2009 survey for Association of American colleges and universities actually found that more than three fourths of our nation’s employers recommend that college bound students pursue a liberal education”. Ungars use of this statistic proves the misconception of liberal arts students not getting jobs wrong and actually emphasizes how most employers would consider taking these courses beneficial. American Professor Kenneth Bain emphasizes that studying liberal arts helps us choose our jobs when he states “here’s the point: their broad education helped them to make those choices as they learned to see connections between liberal education and the speciality they would pursue” (Bain 202). I do feel as though learning a broad range of skills that you can apply anywhere is extremely helpful, and even though I don’t yet know my major I am at least glad that I have the option to take the classes that I want.
As of right now I would say that the liberal arts core courses that I am taking are not too effective in showing the value of a liberal education, but I have looked into other courses that I am excited to be taking next semester. I made it one of my goals to have picked classes or subjects that interest me and will be useful to me in the future. As an undecided major I have a lot of options and the ability to explore a lot of different courses. Luckily for me, and everyone else undecided, “the Liberal arts encompass the broadest range of disciplines in the natural sciences, the humanities and the social sciences” (Ungar 3). Here, previously mentioned journalist Sandford Ungar just keeps reinforcing the amount of options the liberal arts gives us. Being undecided and the growth mindset that Carol Dweck talks about really do go hand in hand. With that, keeping a growth mindset going outside of the classroom is very important and I believe that setting goals for yourself will help you to keep it going. It’s easy to be present in class and then forget about everything you learned once you leave but if you try to set goals with yourself you can try to broaden your experience to beyond the classroom. I told myself upon coming to college that I would keep my options open to trying new things so a goal that I had set for myself was to try something new and I did that. I’m actually on the intramural ultimate frisbee team which is something I would not have expected myself to do. It’s a fun, random way to hang out with some people and get some exercise and even though I would never have pictured myself to do anything frisbee related… ever, I’m glad I did. The goal I had for the future was kind of similar to the one I had now, I said I wanted to try to do something I don’t usually do everyday, liberal arts is big on freedom and even though this is an extracurricular goal I still have the freedom to branch out and try new things as often as I can.
So maybe coming to school without a plan isn’t such a bad thing? Why not enjoy the opportunity to be able to explore new things and broaden your horizons. Using examples from Bain, Unger and Dweck we are able to push past the mindset that you always need a plan to be successful. Being involved in the liberal arts will help students consider all their academic options and give them the chance to try different things without being restricted to the path of one major’s choices. We can never be fully ready for what the future is going to bring, but with an open mind and ever-increasing range of skills maybe we can at least be a little more prepared.
One thing I learned while doing that essay is that I really am completely fine with not knowing what I want to do in life yet, it helped me continue to realize how many options are really out there. One thing I found challenging was making my essay flow well and picking or choosing what kind of evidence/analysis to use.
