On the Uses of Liberal Education

This article was one of the few articles we have read in class that captured my interest and made me actually think about those that don’t have the same lifestyle as I do. I was baffled at the beginning of the article when he started telling the group they were cheated and that rich people get it all. I was taken aback because I feel that no matter where you come from or you socioeconomic status, that everyone has the ability to achieve greatness and become “rich”. I was greatly pleased to see that the program was focused on post-traditional college ages rather than high schooler’s; the typical focus of education studies. This group was a very diverse group with different heart wrenching stories of how they got where they were, but they all had one common thread; this was it. This was their last chance to make a dramatic change in their life, to become “rich”. I took for granted learning about the humanities; they were just another course that I was required to take in high school and college. I didn’t put much thought into how they helped me as a person, how they made me “rich”. They helped me to understand the political game of life and how to win at the game. It was remarkable to see the transformation of the 16 students that made it thru the program. It isn’t as if they were “bad” students or people at the beginning of the course, but they just weren’t afforded the opportunities to learn and thrive. I was astonished to see that by the end of the course they were able to hold conversations on intellectual levels that most college students would deem over their heads. They even were able to dumbfound the professor, which is a rarity when the question Is on the professors forte.