The purpose of college

Originally published in the Bolivar Free-Herald

September is here and with it the anxieties and excitements associated with a new school year. It can be an especially interesting, and sometimes perplexing, period for those young people who will be entering college.

Don Brown is a counselor at Half Way High School and often deals with teenagers who plan to go to college. He believes “the purpose of college is to get an education that will get you a job.” He has found youths heavily divided as to how decided they are about what they will study in college. “Some are very clear about their majors and some are guessing,” he comments. He advises college bound students who are uncertain about what they want do occupationally to “explore. Talk to people.”

Does Brown believe degrees in liberal arts subjects like English, history, religious studies and the like are helpful in terms of finding and keeping jobs? “Yes – maybe,” is his equivocal answer. “They’re probably not the best majors for getting jobs. If you just get an English degree you might have trouble getting a job but if you get an English teaching degree that will work pretty well, there’s a lot of need for teachers. If you have an English degree you can obviously write.”

Brown counsels students who plan to attend college “to take general education classes to open their minds to what is going on in the world. To major in whatever interests them that they can be employed at.” He thinks students should be aware of job trends when picking a major. “I’m an amateur historian,” he states, ‘but the job market for history teachers is a little slack so I told my son not to major in it.”

Counselor Ann Werland works with students at Pleasant Hope High School.” I think college gives kids the skills they need to make more educated choices in the field they plan to pursue,” she remarks. “It’s groundwork done so they can make better lives for themselves.”

Interest Inventories are an important tool for people trying to figure out their life’s work, Werland maintains. “These are tests that help them sort out what areas they might be interested in,” she explains. She advises students going to college to “get their basic education requirements out of the way and take classes they are interested in.”

Students aiming for scientific careers often have special educational concerns, Werland relates: “Kids who are going into science or medicine are worried not so much about their bachelor’s but about whether or not they’ll be able to get the degree after that.”

Werland thinks liberal arts degrees can be economically useful. “I think there are jobs out there for everybody, degree or not,” she elaborates. “If a student comes out with an English degree, they may look for a job in journalism and related areas.”

Indeed, what does a graduate do with a degree in English, history, religious studies, art, or one of the soft sciences such as sociology or anthropology? How does studying Shakespeare or the Civil War relate to a paying occupation in the real workaday world?

In fact, the options of an English major are not limited to teaching the subject nor does a history major necessarily either teach history or become a historian. Sharina Smith, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for Bolivar’s Southwest Baptist University, notes that she is an example of someone with a liberal arts degree. “I was an English literature major,” she relates, “and I went into Public Relations and got a job right away. I got it even before I graduated.”

College is not always direct job training. “I really think it’s a laboratory for life,” Smith asserts. “It’s a place where students have to learn how to manager their time, their money, and their lives. It is probably the first time in their lives they’re given the freedom to learn and decide what to study whether inside or outside of class. It’s often the first time they’re making adult decisions.”

According to Smith, there are two distinct approaches to college, both of which are valid and can lead to economic and more general success after graduation. “If you want to be a pharmacist or other professional, there are particular courses to take for that,” she explains. “In the liberal arts mindset, you learn how to learn. It enriches a student’s life to learn what our grandfathers and grandmothers have learned before them. A liberal arts major is learning our culture and other cultures.” The top five majors at the Southwest Baptist University in fall 2005 were Business, Elementary Education, Psychology, Christian Ministries and Biology.

Employers in a wide variety of fields will hire college graduates with degrees in English, history, art, music, religious studies and the like. “If I’m hiring someone, I almost don’t care what someone has taken,” Smith continues. “If someone has gotten through four years of college that person has learned how to persevere and they’ve learned how to learn.” The major frequently does not relate directly to the job the graduate will obtain. “I’ve seen archeology majors go into law or medicine,” she elaborates. “Archeology majors and other liberal arts majors have learned very strong research skills. A liberal arts degree gives you general knowledge. I have known liberal arts majors who are working in law, medicine, teaching, corporate training, psychological counseling, and as pastors. SBU has a Career Services Department that helps Freshmen through Seniors in their career development. It has been my experience that liberal arts degree holders can pursue a variety of paths that do not require professional degrees. A book that was very helpful to me in my career development was 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller.”

The company that first hired Smith did so because they were impressed at the quality of the English literature major’s education. “They knew I’d gone to a good school and knew how to write,” she remarks. “They taught me the rest.” Like many other college graduates, she later decided to pursue even more education, attending graduate school and earning an M.S. in administration. She will soon to begin studying for an MBA at SBU.

What would Smith’s advice be to someone who is just getting out of high school and is wavering between going directly into the job market, attending a technical school or entering college? “I would ask them what they want to do in their five-to ten-year plan,” she replies. “Studies show that college graduates do better financially than high school graduates but if they’re not ready for college I’d encourage them to go to work to learn the basic skill involved in going to work such as being responsible and getting there on time.”

Smith adds that Southwest Baptist University has special goals relating to its identity as an institution with a religious foundation. “We’re a Christian college,” she says. “We see this college as a place to deepen the faith of those students who are Christians and help them defend their faith when they are out in the world. Our college respects differences and we welcome non-Christian students if they will abide by our rules which are based on Christian values and we try to teach them how to live moral lives.” Smith’s own religious faith has played a role in all areas of her life including her career. She says, “’Passion plus perseverance equals a path worth pursuing’ is my personal motto for discerning what God would have us do with the gifts He has given us.”