The value of a liberal arts education derives not from the tangible information you acquire, which you are likely to forget within five years or even sooner, but rather from the cultivation of critical thinking skills fostered by exposure to a diverse array of disciplines. Bucknell students can communicate with people across sectors, divisions and boundaries in a workplace because they’ve had an introduction to science and math while also having an introduction to the humanities. While many students view classes outside of their major as pointless requirements for the Common Core Curriculum (CCC) and nothing more, they help much more than you might think.

Even if students find value in the humanities, oftentimes they equate it to a GPA boost. The real impacts of humanities classes can take much longer to come to fruition and can be much more subconscious. Philosophy classes teach much more than the inner workings of Aristotle’s mind: they teach how to consider big questions and work through them meticulously. Languages strengthen connections in your brain used for communication while building new ones. Music and visual arts teach us a new way to view the world around us. All of this comes together to create a liberal arts education where we know how to think holistically and not just like a robot only trained to spit out one answer.

Knowing how to think holistically makes Bucknell students and other liberal arts college students more flexible in the workforce and life. We can pivot and take on new responsibilities because we know how to do more than just one thing. It’s our humanities classes that teach us how to think broadly and see different sides of the same situation. They give us a deeper global perspective on every decision we make. It is exactly these qualities that land Bucknell students jobs and bring us success. We might not realize it as we read our third book of the week in English or memorize hundreds of dates for history, but these are the classes that will mold our minds the most from our time at Bucknell. These are the classes that will have the longest-lasting impact from our education.

So next time you hear someone making fun of the humanities, joking about future job security or complaining about the CCC (even if that someone is you), remember the value of the humanities. Remember that these skills we are learning will make all the difference. Whether we can recall a single article we read or any fact we heard, we will all be changed for the better because of the humanities.