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Full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree. When I was looking at colleges, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. In high s
by noer 8y ago
Full disclosure: I have a liberal arts degree.
When I was looking at colleges, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. In high school, I really hated science and math classes. Years later I realized that I actually didn't but the single math teacher I had for four years of high school (it was a small school, I just had bad luck with what teachers were assigned to the classes I took). If I had gone to college with the goal of a career that I thought I would have been suited for, I probably would be doing something much different.
I picked a school that offered me the opportunity to study a broad range of topics and had a curriculum based in seminars & discussion. Rather than learning technical subject or a trade, I learned how to accomplish tasks independently. What I feel I got were the skills to teach myself anything. Sure I'd need to learn harder career based skills, but I knew how to best teach myself something IMO, that's no different than a career paths that requires additional schooling to get a job. Looking back, I think it's ridiculous that we ask 16-18 year olds to make decisions about their careers.
- ummonk 8y ago>Looking back, I think it's ridiculous that we ask 16-18 year olds to make decisions about their careers. And just how far do you think extended adolescence should last? People have to start transitioning into adulthood and preparing for career and life at some point, even if they aren't fully mature and ready for it.
- Consultant32452 8y agoIt's interesting to me that there's no single legal definition of adulthood. Voting, drinking, signing contracts, joining military, count as a dependent on insurance, buy a gun, rent a car... We don't seem to be able to decide, as a culture, when a person is responsible for themselves.
- umanwizard 8y agoYou’re drawing a false dichotomy between career training and liberal arts. I studied pure math which is as nerdy STEM as it gets, and absolutely zero of it was job training.
- noer 8y agoYeah, you're right. In my head I was thinking of pre-law, pre-med, dental & pharm programs as the opposite of liberal arts.
- reaperducer 8y agoWhen I was looking at colleges, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. You're not supposed to. That's what a liberal arts degree is about: Exposing you to a lot of possibilities so you can choose. I went to college for Computer Science, but half way through changed my major because I found other fields more interesting. A friend of mine went in for psychology and came out journalism. It happens all the time. I know very few people who came out of college with the degree they went in for. That's how it's supposed to work.
- umanwizard 8y ago> That's what a liberal arts degree is about: Exposing you to a lot of possibilities so you can choose. Why can't this be what high school is about, like it is in 99% of developed societies?
- reaperducer 8y agoHigh school is about giving you basic education and social skills. like it is in 99% of developed societies This is a fatuous argument. Neither you nor I are education experts, and throwing out a fake statistic just makes you look foolish. You have not done a study of 100% of developed societies to draw your conclusion. You're just making assumptions to justify your pre-conceived notions.
- umanwizard 8y agoI seriously doubt you can find examples of countries outside the US where studying a non-specific subject with a lot of broad distribution requirements is normal. I know for a fact that it is not common in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Serbia, or Russia. I will concede that I'm not too sure what the situation is like outside of Europe.