Liberal Arts

This topic stems from the movie Liberal Arts, staring How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor. The film details the unlikely relationship between Jesse and Zibby, an alumnus and current student of the same college. Though the years between them span more than a decade, Zibby and Jesse are kindred spirits. Jesse, however, has reservations about their relationship and the two ultimately make the difficult decision whether to continue seeing each other or not.

One amusing part of Liberal Arts was the conversation Jesse and Zibby have about presumably a Twilight-esque fiction novel. Jesse repeatedly voices his dislike for the novel and implores Zibby to provide one good reason she enjoys it. The book in question apparently is not well written nor provides any literary significance, yet is well liked by millions of readers. Jesse questions the readership and, in essence, Zibby's maturity, simply because her views differ from his. Zibby rejoinders with the point of a liberal arts education - meeting and disagreeing with people.

What is the point of a liberal arts education? I always took liberal arts education to mean that I could take whatever classes I wanted in addition to the classes toward my major. I looked for and applied only to liberal arts colleges and ultimately decided on a nursing program that would seemingly allow me to complete a minor and study abroad.

Although my sister attended college a couple years before me, her collegiate career was much different from mine. I figured out soon enough that things were not going to work out the way I had planned. I ended up having to put up a little extra work to complete my minor and I am working on studying abroad for January Term of next year.

Now, after two and a half years of college, I consider Liberal Arts as having various means of communicating and discussing different points of view. There are all kinds of courses, clubs, events, and activities offered to students and oftentimes are a prime topic of conversation. As strange as it sounds, I enjoy disagreeing with people and being able to discuss why. It is invigorating and empowering and I suggest it be attempted daily for premium health and wellness.