Attending a small liberal arts college is quite different than attending a large university in almost every way. The classes are smaller, your professors know your name, you take courses in many different disciplines and you know pretty much everyone on campus. Liberal arts colleges emphasize a well-rounded education. They encourage their students to take courses in a variety of topics ranging from language, to art, to religion, to psychology, to chemistry. Many students even decide to declare two majors in vastly different subjects (such as Environmental Science and Italian Studies).
The liberal arts college experience certainly has it pros and cons, as does attending a big state school, but students (at least the ones with which I have spoken) truly enjoy their time at their liberal arts campus. You meet so many unique people, learn all sorts of new things and experience life from a completely different perspective. A liberal arts education presents students with an abundance of situations that they would not encounter anywhere else and allows them to expand their horizons in an entirely new way.
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Here are some experiences that we, the students of liberal arts colleges, can probably all relate to in some way or another…
When you’re trying to pick a major, but there’s so many interesting choices.
When you tell people that you're majoring in both Environmental Science and Italian Studies.
When you look at your syllabus for the semester.
When that one student in your 8 a.m. discussion class is a little too enthusiastic.
When you have to take a required natural science class, but you’re not a science major.
When your professor bumps your final grade from an 89.3 to a 90.
When you see a dog running around campus.
When your advisor tells you what classes you should take next semester.
When the classes that you want to take next semester are full and you have to rethink your whole semester and, ultimately, your whole life.
When your professor (inevitably) assigns a group project, and you’re just not having it.
When someone in your discussion class finally agrees with your opinion.
When you think you can take more classes than recommended while still having a social life.
When your language professor goes on a long rant in that language.
When you have papers due in every class.
When you talk about your school and people actually know where it is.
When you realize that you’ll have student loans forever.
But it's all worth it because you go to the best college possible.
