Have you ever asked yourself this? What is the purpose of college? What is the purpose of a liberal arts degree versus a research based degree? Many students assume this is where they were supposed to go, getting a job is not for them and this is a way of putting that off for four more years. Maybe they have always wanted to go to college because their parents did and assumed that was the logical next step. Others have perhaps put more thought into college and desire the knowledge they will gain at an institution of higher learning.
Colleges operated primarily as seminaries. Harvard, the first university in America was first a seminary school. The idea was to search for a higher meaning and make humans better. This was done through the glory of the Lord. In the early days of Universities, men knew the way to become better men, and subsequently human beings, they needed to become closer to the Lord. Along the way, colleges left the seminary route, but still maintained a tenent most dear, to better humanity. The progression of Universities and the pursuit of knowledge has came more than 100 years and today, the gaol is, at least of liberal arts colleges, to better humanity through a well rounded education, creating men and women of worth, significance, poise, and graduating better human beings. The goal of each class taken at CBU, a liberal arts college, is not to force students to take classes that "don't matter," but to have students take classes that will enlighten them to new subjects, make them well rounded individuals, and test their drive. College is not supposed to be easy, it is not supposed to be solely about your major, it is about making you the best human being you can be. I have heard many students argue for only taking classes that matter to their major, no other English, Math, History, or Communications classes. Well maybe those students should think about the type of college they enrolled in. If they do not like being forced to take gen. ed.'s, maybe they should go somewhere else, to a non-liberal arts college. Students need to do their homework on choosing a college and understanding the terms used on each college website. Each word means something and gives the reader valuable information. The focus of a liberal-arts college is to make humans better, the focus of a research school is to be the smartest and to share those smarts with society. While one still helps humanity, it is nuanced from liberal arts colleges. The liberal arts seek to help humanity through the people that make up humanity. Research schools seek to help humanity by researching and sharing those results with humanity at large, not at individuals or on that level. Both colleges ultimately want to help society, they simply choose different ways of doing it. One starting from the ground up, the other from the top down. So, what is college for you? Did you choose the right university and do you believe it will help and mold your outlook of society when it's time to graduate?
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Alpha Tau Sigma at
Cal Baptist Archives
May 2015
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