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"I have a liberal arts degree. Would you like fries with that?"
That joke comes from a Reader's Digest issue and it is of course intended to make the readers laugh. I know it sounds hilarious because you at least are not an AB student or graduate, or you just really find it funny.
Of course, I would not know exactly how to react after reading that one-liner. I read the joke again and again until I practically dried up the juices of my brain if only to fully absorb the humour behind that gag. I even tried to entertain and make myself laugh by thinking that liberal arts students will graduate with free fries with them. How stupid can I get?
After much ego-denying and perpetual disbelief, I finally came up with the interpretation that would of course be like anyone else's (who took the joke seriously) after 10 short seconds. First, a liberal arts degree is so effortless and quick to earn just like ordering a cheeseburger at your regular favorite fastfood restaurant. Second, liberal arts graduates end up with blue-collar jobs, pretty much like those of fastfood waiters. Third, a liberal arts degree would practically take you nowhere on this side of the world. And finally, a liberal arts degree is for people who unfortunately lost their brain's left hemisphere after repeated suicidal math and science classes in secondary school.
Nevertheless, I am a liberal arts graduate and am truly proud of that. Back in highschool, I honestly believed that an AB degree is a lesser form of study compared to a B.S. degree since it was easier without the complications of science and mathematics. In addition to that, I also thought that it was embarrassing to pursue an AB degree because it would be the same as admitting that you are just pathetic when it comes to numbers.
For other people, they think that an AB degree would make you a poor low-paid teacher. An AB degree is so useless that it would be a waste of anyone's time, money and energy. At school, AB students are stereotyped as dumb, rich, spoiled brats who come to school dressed like it is an everyday fashion show.
Because of the fear of being labeled, I chose to take a B.S. degree against my will. I pushed myself to enjoy the classes like they were the best days of my life. But in time, irony prowled around my destiny so I decided to shift to my AB course and graduated with flying colors. You do not want to know how it felt to endure the almost infinite nagging of people around me who were against the best decision of my academic life.
I do not want to argue against my interpretations of the joke. I only want to share with you the other side of the coin to stop your proud ego from mutating to become some chauvinist. Perhaps, after realizing your same-way thinking guilt, I wanted to lay out some of my thoughts.
I know, I know. This damned world needs people to take courses that would respond to the most in-demand jobs out there in the wild. Right now, there is a wide magnitude of diaspora of nurses going some place else, just not here in the Philippines. People need to take these highly technical courses to be pragmatic enough to be able to survive in the future. We simply cannot blame them for their good reasons.
On the contrary, liberal arts courses are being undermined by many because of the poor employment demand for liberal arts graduates which is also understandable. But the bad thing that always comes into the mind of the average person is that a liberal arts degree is useless that results in the little and almost no demand for it. Many people do not really understand what it means to have a truly "liberal" education. For some, studying the most boring classes like Philosophy, Literature, History, etc. is really burdensome. Many do not find the sense of taking those classes at all, and many of them would prefer not to take them when they are not required. I am proud to say that many of the most reputable universities here in this country give enough importance to their liberal arts curriculum (general education). Liberal arts education is there to help us understand this world, opening our minds to what is happening around us. Studying the humanities and social sciences make us to appreciate what we have here in life and how we human beings really differ from the non-humans. Most of our knowledge and understanding come from our liberal arts education. We live life and to live it fully we must understand it.
As a liberal arts graduate, I am proud to say that we are in some ways better in many aspects. We are trained to read and comprehend very well. We are trained to write well and are more open-minded. Many of the most influential and powerful people are liberal arts degree holders. In other words, with a liberal arts degree, your horizons have widened. You will appreciate life. After all, we may not make life easier, but we live life better.
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Article written by Kevin Cabrera
Featuring Sarah Christophers and Sugar Free