By Rhyanne Duval
As a student going into their fifth semester of community college, I’ve heard just about all the different opinions people have to offer about my education. It's a funny thing seeing how people become so invested in lives other than their own. Nonetheless, it is more often than not that people are delighted to hear about the classes I’m taking, how I’m doing in them, and my plans for the future. With that being said, it would be ignorant not to acknowledge the two unfavorable opinions I hear the most: those that believe college, more specifically general studies or liberal arts and science majors, are useless when it pertains to learning “real world skills”, and those that only see the benefit in college with specific, clear-cut career goals. Perhaps one of their favorite lines being, “so how does this class help you provide for yourself in the real world?”. In the cases I’ve seen, these kinds of people have found their passion early in life, a passion that didn’t require earning a higher education to succeed. And that’s wonderful for them, but my story is different.
I see a life with more than one passion, more than one great inspiration, and more than one specialty to pursue. To me, education is about expanding my knowledge not just on one field of specialty, but instead exploring as many wonders of the world as possible. There are many things that life will teach us, just as long as we let it.
As much as everyone likes to tell me to switch my major to something more specific than general studies, I value the variety in my classes. I’ve taken a range of different classes, some being: Pestilence, Plagues, and Peoples, Abnormal Psychology, Human Biology, Composition 1 and 2, Drawing, Statistics, Ethics, Photography, Environmental Studies, Interpersonal Communications, and a few more. Would you believe me if I told you I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these classes? Every class has taught me something different, yet each equally as valuable as the other.
In my pestilence, plaques, and peoples class I got to learn about both the historical and biological impacts of deadly infectious diseases our world has experienced. I’d argue that it's extremely helpful to understand how diseases spread. After all, that is how prevention works, by knowing the causes and learning to avoid them.
Throughout my drawing course, I learned different techniques with the pencil to create the illusion of different textures. But it wasn’t just drawing that I learned from this class; it was the discipline to sit down and dedicate myself to a project that I also accomplished. I challenged the limits of my skills to become something better than I was before.
In the abnormal psychology class, we were educated on the various types of psychological disorders and how they impact the lives of those affected. Living in a world full of people with psychological disorders, it's important to understand why people behave in a certain manner and what is deemed to be concerning behavior. We are a community, and being there to help others requires this baseline of understanding when it comes to mental illness.
Statistics has taught me how to calculate probabilities, something that we use in the world all the time.
There are many more examples I could give to justify the practicality and true enjoyment of my education in general studies, though my most recent experience was from my interpersonal communications class. I’ll admit that this class was a requirement to fill in my DegreeWorks matriculation plan, but it has proven from day one to be superbly helpful in my management of interpersonal relationships. This class entails the study of many essential aspects of communication: understanding verbal and non-verbal cues, impacts of mediated communication, acknowledging characteristics of my self-concept, learning impression management, understanding and managing emotions, analyzing interpersonal conflicts, and so much more. Since taking that class I’ve noticed significant changes in the relational dynamics within my own life.
During the first few weeks of this class, we talked about the self-concept: this comprises the ideas and characteristics we hold of ourselves relating to our goals, abilities, beliefs, and values. To be able to understand how our self-concept impacts different interpersonal relationships, we must first be able to recognize those personal characteristics and how we feel towards those labels. To exercise this skill, the professor prompted her students to write a “who am I” list. Although my list grew very long, some highlights included: stubborn, loves art, youngest sibling, hard worker, shy, obsessive, understanding, music lover, unathletic, easily annoyed, and kind. It was a bittersweet experience having to acknowledge some of my deepest flaws, while at the same time, appreciating my greatest talents.
Creating the list was the first step, then we asked the question "So how exactly does our self-concept impact life around us?" This is where the idea of impression management comes in—the communication strategies that people use to influence how others view them. There is no denial in the fact that every person has their self-concept, but what people forget to notice is the selection of different qualities to portray depending on the environment we are in. For example, I would be wise to be more patient, polite, and composed when at a job interview. On the other hand, if I were hanging out with my close friends, it would be acceptable for me to present my laid-back, swearing, and silly part of myself. As we’ve all been told before, there is a time and a place for certain things. Let’s see what people have to say about the usefulness of college when they hear about implementing impression management.
I could go on forever about my passion for broadening my education, but I'm here to say that it is okay not to fit in the box everyone is trying to put you in. People get inspired by all sorts of things in life, and it is okay to refuse to choose one. If I want to spend a few years of my life in a quaint pottery studio making dinnerware out of clay, I will. If I want to become an environmental activist, I will. If I want to become a therapist who investigates the problems between people’s interpersonal relationships, I will. If I want to study infectious diseases in a lab setting, I will. The list is only as big as you make it. Let life inspire you. There are going to be people who tell you that you need to choose when you're not ready. I’m here to remind you that it's okay not to force a choice for the sake of satisfying others. If you feel that life has too many inspirations and passions to offer, then explore them all. You never know what you may take a liking to if you never take the leap to find out.
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