Liberal Arts Degrees and 98 Degrees

Since coming to college, I've become more and more acquainted with the distinct possibility that higher education nowadays is pointless.

Don't get me wrong; I love education. I love being in school, and I love to learn. I wish I could just stay in school forever and continue to learn. but unfortunately no one would really want to sponsor my indefinite learning--unless of course, I proved some remarkable genius for it, which won't likely be happening. I have to face the fact that I need to one day assimilate into "the real world."

Lately, I've just been under this sad impression that a Liberal Arts degree--that thing which I had longed for so long in high school--serves relatively little purpse in "the real world."
Let me explain. The other day, my friend Sami and I were discussing possible majors, future plans, etc. We were saying something about how Grad school is becoming more and more of a necessity.

"You know, what," I had said, "it seems that liberal arts degrees are just a means to an end. They don't hold the same value they once did."
"I remember one time we had a speaker come to our high school," Sami replied, "and he said that a Liberal Arts degree nowadays is basically what a High School Dipolma used to be."

What she meant was that so many people have College Degrees, that they are virtually meaningless in gaining an "edge" over others. If you want a real "edge," you've gotta go to grad school or something like that.


I went to a CCAS (Cross-College Advising Service) meeting the other day, which was by all accounts pointless. However, I did glean a little bit from it. The lady said that "A liberal arts degree, in classical times, was something that only the extreme elite would receive!"
I thought about how much of a joke that is now. "Extreme elite"? Everybody gets a degree...

This is partially the reason I am looking into so-called "Pre-professional" programs--ie, Engineering. Or possibly Medicine (which would involve getting an undergrad and THEN moving on to Med school) I guess it'd just be nice to know that I'm working toward a tangible goal, and that I have a basic idea about the type of career I'm going to have.
I would absolutely love to major in English or Philosophy or Linguistics or any of those things, but career possiblities are so broad that it scares me. I don't want to graduate with an English degree and end up selling cars. I don't want to get a Philosophy degree only to become a manager of some business.
Do you see what I'm saying? At least with engineering, or medecine, I know exactly where I'm headed. Maybe it's not EXACTLY how I had pictured my future, but it is a pretty exact picture OF my future.
I really do love the idea of a Liberal Arts Degree. I think it's fantastic--studying a broad range of topics, taking a broad range of courses.
I like taking lots and lots of different things just because I love learning. I really don't want to narrow down my course range to what's required for some pre-professional degree.

and I guess the main question is this:
is remaining in school and getting some degree that I'm only half sure of worth it? financially? I am not a materialist person. Money is meaningless to me so long as I am doing what I love to do.


I don't know. I don't mean to crush anyone's dreams or to appear so pathetically jaded. I'm just expressing some doubts I have.
I'm definitely not going to just drop out of school either.
I just need some direction. I am in this gigantic research institution, with lots of great programs, but I'm not sure exactly where I'm heading. and I have not the time or the money to flounder around searching for it.


HM, Well this was not a very optmistic or cheery blog! so, here is a STEAMY PICTURE OF 90's BOY BAND, 98 Degrees! I searched for "degree" in Google images and this picture came up. hahaha. it was pretty amusing. enjoy.