Many students often come to college with a carefully curated plan for their studies. They do their research about all of the best programs and majors that will surely put them on a path toward financial success. They are the type of students whose parents brag about at the dinner table. They’re the future doctors, lawyers and engineers of the world, and these are very important professions that play a very crucial role in our society.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being this type of student. However, there is also nothing wrong with being a different kind of student – the kind that took one look at a calculus textbook and thought that maybe a STEM major wasn’t for them. I’m talking about the kind of student who chose to major in something that makes people ask them what they even plan on doing with their life. I’m talking about the people who chose to major in something “useless.”
I’m talking about myself.
I made the decision to major in journalism while also pursuing my philosophy degree. I often get the most judgment for my choice to study philosophy. Is this a decision that I will regret in many years when I am looking for a job? I am not entirely sure. However, I don’t currently regret taking all of these philosophy courses, and I certainly don’t regret being a part of Cuesta’s journalism program.
A lot of students spend a lot of time worrying about what their future will look like when they graduate, and it is definitely important to have somewhat of an idea. Yet, in between all of these anxieties, it can be easy to forget that life doesn’t begin after college. Life is happening at this very moment, and choosing to be happy in the present by majoring in something that seems “useless” doesn’t always mean that you’ll regret it later. It’s actually possible that it may become a valuable experience that will help you develop as a person.
It may sound clichéd, but all knowledge has value. I am not currently regretting my choices because, not only am I happy, I have also obtained skills that I will always be grateful for, no matter what.
I will not deny that finding a job after graduation can be hard, and that it may be harder for people who majored in certain fields. Cuesta College philosophy professor Christopher Gilbert said that he had a difficult experience when trying to find a job after getting his philosophy degree from graduate school.
However, Gilbert still thinks that philosophy is an important subject because of what it does for a student’s ability to think about problems. He said that philosophy forces students to think in abstract and methodical ways that can help students when approaching issues in their professional and everyday lives.
“We don’t need a lot of professional philosophers, but I would argue that philosophy plays a crucial role in general education,” Gilbert said. “Because philosophy challenges people to think in ways that they’re not used to thinking, it asks them to think about really challenging topics, many of which are so challenging that we don’t have answers for them.”
Blake Turner is a student at Cuesta who also studies philosophy, and he is also planning on changing his major to history. Turner said that his studies in philosophy and history have helped expand his worldview.
“I’m willing to listen more before I give an opinion or say something, and I actually process what people are saying, and I also try to read things more objectively,” Turner said. He believes that his history studies helped him gain more awareness and respect for other communities
“One of my philosophy professors said that we potentially live in a post-enlightenment era in that we’re not really using critical thinking skills,” Turner said. “If that’s true, majors like history and philosophy are just that much more important. It’s like a light flickering in the darkness that needs to keep going.”
In a world where misinformation is on the rise due to social media platforms and where artificial intelligence is negatively impacting people’s cognitive abilities, the ability to think critically has become more valuable.
My philosophy studies might not have a practical use, but that does not mean that they are useless. My time spent reading Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and drawing truth tables to analyze arguments led me to adopt a more humble, critical view of the world. I have become capable of accepting that my perceptions aren’t always correct, and that it takes effort to find the truth.
As a journalism major, I think it is very important to have this sort of mentality, and this can be said for a wide variety of professions. So even if I get weird looks when I say that I am going to college to study philosophy, I know what I am learning is valuable because I have already noticed I am growing as a person.
Your path after graduation may not be clear, and you will likely encounter many obstacles. However, as long as you are learning and developing in the present, your future will become brighter.
