Class discussion: Liberal Arts

     Why is it that Christopher Newport University and many other universities and colleges of high caliber place such a high value on liberal arts learning? Surely the sensible path would be to achieve the degree for which you are paying for and leave as soon as possible, right? Without a doubt, that is what most young adults imagine would be the most reasonable path. What, after all, is so liberating about a liberal arts degree? In what measure does the value of a comprehensive education lie? As Professor Redick would have it, the liberation one man must happen at one point or another; liberal arts is an exposure to the most innate truth of life: I am me. Although the world may try to lead me to one conclusion, my mind is my own, and I am free to believe what I like. I can forge my own path, this is what a Liberal Arts degree allows me to experience and understand.

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