November 16, 2013
by Darren Bruno Undergraduate Fellow at the Greenberg Center for Religion and Public Life, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
College is a dizzying experience for anyone, no matter the institution one attends or the field of study one enters. As a new student I arrived at Tunxis Community College, like so many of my peers, seeking an affordable and worthwhile education. An education that would, I hoped, prepare me to the greatest extent possible for whatever the future held. What I encountered, however, was much more promising. My exposure to philosophy, literature, history, law, and various other disciplines provided me with a sense of fulfillment that far exceeded my expectations. Where I came in search of skills or knowledge that would lead to better job prospects, I discovered a personal pursuit of knowledge and happiness that transcended any paycheck. Most importantly, I developed the intellectual instruments which have equipped me to ask what happiness is, how it can be experienced, and what the relationship between that happiness and any job or career I undertake may be.
Fortunately, along with those instruments some very tangible abilities developed unconsciously. Unraveling the writings of Li Po, the ancient Chinese poet, exposed me to a piece of foundational culture unlike my own while simultaneously honing my capacity to detect metaphor. Plato’s Republic, among many other things, showed me how irony can be employed to great effect so as to allow the light of truth to bleed through in between lines of text. Socrates’ dialogues forced me to question assumptions, to be inherently skeptical, and advised me on how to approach those who are already convinced that their assumptions are true. In the many history courses I attended, I gained an immense appreciation for our culture and a perspective from which I would have been otherwise deprived. Exploring the history, concepts, and trajectory of music and art further added to that appreciation, and made it possible for me to enjoy and comprehend more about art than I ever thought possible.
Upon leaving Tunxis to finish my degree at Trinity College in Hartford, I quickly learned that my time spent investigating disciplines that are often seen as superfluous or unnecessary benefited me greatly. I wasn’t just prepared for new material, I was eager for it. Furthermore, I was able to incorporate new ideas and concepts into working historical and philosophical narratives that are ever evolving. A fire had been lit at Tunxis which will forever be with me and keep illuminated whatever trail I blaze. This will be so, I’m sure, not just in law school which I will be attending next Fall, but in every adventure I embark upon. My love of history, politics, and my community impelled me to intern at the Connecticut General Assembly where, working under the former Speaker of the House, I observed how policy is made and how politics shapes that process. I witnessed how citizens affect change and how some are unable or unwilling to do so. I learned that the same corporate structures which governed the Geats in Beowulf exist still today with different warriors in more subtle garb.
My initial plunge into the Humanities began what will undoubtedly be a lifelong pursuit of truth, knowledge, justice, and happiness. Much of what the student in the Humanities gains is somewhat intangible beyond the diploma, a sort of invisible but ever-present awareness of something deeper, greater, more real. What happily accompanies this, however, are the tangible skills that have sustained the body of Western Civilization from Athens to Washington. The abilities to effectively communicate, to see beyond and outside of one’s circumstances, to be creative with limited resources, to deal with humans as we are, not as we wish we could be… These are what the Humanities provide. Every bit of knowledge added on top of this foundation is a but a footnote. Value, however, is not found only in the overtly tangible. In a time where politics is becoming increasingly divisive, and the world increasingly flat, the Humanities have time-tested tools with which we can interpret and navigate the changing world. Lessons gleaned from studying these disciplines assist not only within, but far beyond, the job one finds beyond graduation. They make one employable while providing the means for happiness beyond the compensation delivered.
What the Humanities have done for me, in short, is equipped me to think like an entrepreneur, a philosopher, a child, a poet, and an artist all at once. That is why the Humanities should be studied.
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