In this blog post, I reflect on how my college liberal arts education changed my mindset and life. See how diverse knowledge and experiences have broadened my horizons and shaped my values.
Everything has a beginning and an end. If you start something, you’re bound to end it. College is no different. After dedicating your life to getting into college, you’re heading towards graduation. How you end up is important, and the goal is to graduate with good grades and enough credits. In order to graduate, most engineering majors at Seoul National University require a minimum of 130 credits. That’s more than 16 credits per semester if you’re thinking about graduating in four years. If you subtract the required 50 credits of general education and 60 credits of major courses, you’re left with only five or six classes, ranging from 15 to 20 credits. Based on the school’s suggested course offerings, I was left with no more than five free electives to graduate.
Entering my sixth semester, I have taken 122 credits so far this semester, 72 of which are liberal arts. After removing 50 credits of required coursework, I’ve spent 22 of my precious credits on frontline and liberal arts courses, or “useless” classes. But I can assure you that I took away from these classes things that I could not have filled in other 100-credit classes.
The classes I took over the course of three years were as diverse as the field itself. In Freshman Seminar, I learned about the five senses and how to accommodate them; in German and Latin, I learned about the structure of each language as well as the foundations and history of each country; in Principles of Economics, I learned about the economy as Homo Economicus and the role of the individual in society; in Introduction to Ink Drawing and Painting, I learned about art and its depth. The subject of politics and political ideology gave me diversity, and the understanding of Western theater and the visual arts taught me how to translate life into stories and stories into life.
It was a vast amount of information. It’s a lot of information to take in in one semester. I didn’t have the foundation or the time to process it. In fact, as a result, I didn’t even get a good grade in those classes. This is because these liberal arts classes were deep choices, as opposed to the easy-to-get-good grades and easy-to-study subjects that were being chosen for graduation requirements.
This choice was foreshadowed from the time of university admission. I chose Seoul National University without hesitation, as it is the top university in the science and technology field. I chose Seoul National University because I was fascinated by the fact that it is a comprehensive university and its historical and humanistic foundations. I was never wrong.
The breadth of Seoul National University’s liberal arts curriculum, which spans multiple foreign languages, art and history, philosophy and politics, and more, is unmatched in the country. This is a great advantage of being a comprehensive university and the largest university in Korea. Whether it’s the only Swahili language course in the country or an archery class taught by an Olympic gold medalist, the diversity of liberal arts courses available at Seoul National University provides students with unique opportunities. It was invaluable to learn from professors who not only had years of research experience, but also excelled in practical and creative work in the field. It would have been a shame not to take a variety of classes at a school like this.
I realized that what I learned from my liberal arts classes in college wasn’t just about acquiring knowledge; they shaped my mindset and expanded my perspective on the world. For example, in my Western Philosophy class, I learned about Plato’s Ideas, which helped me understand that the real world is not just made up of material things. Similarly, in my Western theater class, I was able to go beyond simply watching a play and think deeply about how human emotions and social interactions are expressed on the stage. These liberal arts classes gave me the ability to look at things from different perspectives.
My solo trip to Germany last winter really brought this home to me. On the streets, I was able to fully experience the unique emotions that come from the German language, which is neither Korean nor English, and the architectural styles and historical meanings of the many historical sites. In the art museums, I could feel the mind of the artist as they painted, and their food, tea, and alcohol gave me a glimpse into their culture. In the newspapers and news that I pass by, I can learn about the values of people who lived in a different history. All of these are things that I would have never noticed if it weren’t for the liberal arts classes I’ve been taking, and all of a sudden they become so vivid.
These classes, which began at a young age, have had a profound impact on my self-reflection. They were invaluable resources that helped me stay centered as my adolescent, rigidly structured life floundered in the flow of freedom that came with college. What to look at, what to take away, and how to organize it. These liberal arts classes gave me direction and will continue to be a pillar of my life. To make them even more solid, I will never stop taking liberal arts classes.
