I came to college undecided. I knew this wasn’t uncommon but it was still concerning that I had no idea where my education was going. My favorite classes in high school were English and chemistry, so why not start there?

During the fall semester of my freshman year, I started taking chemistry and other science classes. I did well and enjoyed it, but I wasn’t sure it was the right fit. The next semester I took my first English class. I swapped chemical equation and stoichiometry for 1800s British Literature and analytic papers. Even though I loved chemistry, becoming an English major felt right, and I’ve stuck to it since.

Due to St. Thomas being a liberal arts university, I was able to try both paths. For undecided students and those who know their path, a liberal arts education is valuable to finding new interests, learning various disciplines and becoming a more well-rounded person.

Many universities are liberal arts, which means they require students to take multiple subjects, ranging from the sciences to the humanities. According to Top Universities, a liberal arts education is defined as a collection of topics (including humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and formal sciences) that are taught together to bring a wider spectrum of knowledge and skills.

Liberal arts began in Europe, stemming from Greek and Roman roots. It’s main development came with the American rise of universities. The Ivy League schools began as liberal arts schools, before becoming research focused, but still hold liberal arts ideas at their roots.

“Our understanding of the world depends on where we stand and how we interpret what we see and know about it,” Willard Dix, a college admissions adviser and contributor for Forbes said. We can fully understand something when we have experienced it and fully know it.

A liberal arts education is designed to expose students to other subjects: culture, history, human interaction, the physical world and more. Viewing the world through all of these factions diversifies thinking, which is critical for students who are “entering” the world as educated adults.

The University of Northern Colorado notes that a liberal arts education instills valuable skills in students, such as critical thinking, communication, creativity, innovative research and self-expression. It also supports lifelong learning as it helps students create a habit of searching for new information and topics to explore.

St. Thomas promotes its liberal arts education as a way for “students [to] learn to think creatively and critically across disciplines through a variety of innovative instructional methods, interdisciplinary teaching and collaborative research.” It is focused on forming well-rounded students that will help improve the common good.

These skills not only help in an academic setting, but employers seek out applicants who can demonstrate well-rounded capabilities and understanding. Specifically, it shows adaptability in a workplace. The background of a liberal arts degree is a good stepping stone to future careers.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers conducted a Job Outlook survey in 2016, looking at what employers value most. Specifically, employers look for leadership qualities, group work, problem-solving skills and strong written and verbal communication. Liberal arts universities are tailored to fostering these skills in their students.

All of the technical and career aspects aside, having a liberal arts education makes a student a better member of society. Studying subjects like art history or literature creates empathy and connection with other people, while studying the sciences helps students have a practical sense for the world.

For example, as an English major, I read literature to better understand the human condition (the main aspects of human experience including emotions, conflicts, events, birth/death and other experiences of life). I can navigate life and relationships better by having a basic understanding of the human person.

Having a liberal arts degree opens a student’s capability to engage in important topics of today, like politics, the environment, social justice, ethics and more. It is a way of looking at life in a different way by discovering your interests in the process.

The human experience is widely diverse, so having the tools to approach these differences are beneficial. In this way, the best type of education challenges students to see farther than they have before, and an education grounded in the liberal arts can help to do this.

Maddie Peters can be reached at pete9542@stthomas.edu.