Our graduation requirements include two courses from each of the following academic fields: humanities, social sciences, natural and mathematical sciences, and cultural diversity, but are all of these requirements really worth our time?
As a first-year student, I am often bombarded with questions about my future, and I tend to question if college is worth all the time and the money. I usually shut my thoughts up with a simple response: yes. Being a Forester is worth it, because, as Kevin Kupiec ’17 said, “You are expected to go on and learn more and expand your knowledge.”
A college education is so much more than sitting in a classroom, especially at a liberal arts college. A liberal arts education gives us the opportunity to learn about many different people in and outside of the classroom. It allows us to truly become educated individuals.
An educated individual is not only a person who can sit in a classroom and participate when asked to participate. An educated individual is a person who is “very well-rounded, introspective and engaged with the world,” said Cassia Baker ’15.
An educated person is one who expresses “curiosity about the world around them and the world of ideas,” said Tracy McCabe, senior lecturer in English. Let’s bring in a hypothetical yet realistic example: group projects, which are the most hated and daunting part of our grades because we are forced to depend on others. Group projects teach us a real- world skill: having to work with people we might not necessarily agree with, but in doing so, we are able to see other people’s point of view.
What does Lake Forest College give to us that makes a Forester degree worth it? There are so many on-campus opportunities to build a sense of community and connections. We also get the opportunity to study abroad and participate in In The Loop, and if that doesn’t scream “great opportunity,”
I don’t know what does! College is so much more than an education, it’s an experience. This is my second semester at Lake Forest, and I have already met such a diverse group of people and learned many things about myself. College becomes an experience, and an educated person becomes much more than a diploma.
