A Running Analogy: The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

The following is not intended to be taken 100% seriously. Try 70%.

Picking a college is kind of like running competitively in high school. 

On the one hand, you could do lots of hard interval workouts. You could run really intense, race-specific repeats that get you into excellent racing shape and allow you to run great times in high school.

Another approach, though is to mix it up.  It’s more fun to vary your running by doing easy runs, tempo runs, intervals, and long runs. Additionally, a more comprehensive training plan sets you up really well to improve consistently over a long period of time. On a training plan like this, you are more durable and more versatile - the focus is on racing fast, but your plan accounts for the long-term importance of injury prevention and being able to handle a varied set of workouts. With this approach, you can reach your full potential.

If you agree with what is written above, I congratulate you on deciding to attend a liberal arts college instead of a major university.