It's a given that students who study the liberal arts in college have their horizons broadened immensely. But along the way, they also find their paths to happiness and success honed and focused by the things they've learned. These truths are evident in the two essays that snared top honors in the College of Letters & Science annual essay contest.
Winner Fiona Montie, who graduated this Spring majoring in Community and Environmental Sociology and is currently a graduate student at the La Follette School of Public Affairs, talks about the shift in perspective studying the liberal arts has granted her. Runner-up Rikin Soni is a senior majoring in Neurobiology and Philosophy. He talks about his journey as a first-generation undergraduate from India.
The following are excerpts from their essays.
Blessed Am I to Know What I Don't Know
By Fiona Montie
If I had a dollar for each time a well-meaning adult earnestly reminded me, “College is about discovering who you are and what excites you, so don’t worry about figuring it out right away,” I’d have… well, I’d have an even more impressive collection of books ranging from social psychology to poetry, nutrition, and contemporary politics. I never had trouble “exploring.” And exploring can be exhausting. But the opportunity to ride the wave toward the most intriguing shore in search of breadth and depth is a privilege that a liberal arts education provides.
However, a liberal arts education provides a slew of benefits beyond mere interest, intellect, and the ability to converse with local café-goers about current events. In defense of liberal arts institutions, proponents argue that “critical thinking” skills are under attack by groups that push for pragmatic and “employable” coursework that imparts tangible skill sets. To be sure, marketability and direct usefulness of coursework are important, but because of my liberal arts education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, I’ve learned something more valuable. Because of my broad and deep UW–Madison coursework, I recognize that education itself can only take us so far, and it is through conversations with our neighbors and those unlike us and those downright opposed to us that we can heal and build trust and discover truths. And in a world where WebMD receives more visits than the doctor’s office, this admittance of ignorance, of vulnerability, of not having all the answers is itself wisdom. It is this wisdom, this fine balance between confidence and humility, fortitude and doubt, that sets me free.
My education sets me free because it serves me in understanding when my academic knowledge and training are relevant and when they are insufficient – when, instead, community voices must steer the conversation regarding solutions to societal problems. In fall of 2018, I dove into Issues in Food Systems, analyzing academic literature regarding who grows our tomatoes and who actually profits from their sale. The bulk of graded material in this course revolved around a community consulting project, during which students planned, oversaw, and later extracted data from focus groups of community members who visit food pantries in South Madison. Community members most affected by food insecurity called the shots, not academics who researched the topic from afar. From this course experience, I gleaned the importance of academics that serve rather than preach, and the critical opportunity for universities to apply research practices to the betterment of their neighbors, dismantling the perception of egotistical ivory towers.
My Path to Freedom
By Rikin Soni
In 2006, David Foster Wallace gave a commencement speech at Kenyon College*, his only one. In his speech, he outlined his definition of the value of a liberal arts education. He expressed,
“Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about teaching you how to think is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience”.
My experiences at University of Wisconsin-Madison, through the classes I have taken, have allowed me to do just that - learn how to exercise some control over how and what I think. I believe this notion of controlling how and what I think will lead me to freedom. How this has happened can only be understood with this story - my story, if you will.
I was born in Anand, Gujarat - a western State in India that sticks out like a sore thumb on the map. My mom, a high school graduate and my dad, a high school dropout, sent me to a private school to ensure I got the best education possible. Until sixth grade, I exercised that opportunity to educate myself - as much as a naive young kid can muster - so that I would make my parents proud. I was twelve years old at the time. It was also the age at which my family - parents, sister, and I - moved to the United States.
Through many ups and downs, a lot more downs than ups, I am proud to say that I am the first one in my family to attend college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Furthermore, I am striving to become the first one to go to graduate school -- medical school -- not only in my close family, but in my entire extended family. In my story, liberal studies has played a significant role. It has propelled me in the right direction, at a pace which I did not deem to be possible and helped me understand our unique world.