Choosing a Major

Choosing a Major

Education is a very broad and difficult term and no two people define it the same way, but most would agree that you do get an education in college. Many colleges pride themselves on developing "well-rounded" students, and yet they make it mandatory for each student to choose one field of specified study. This seems to contradict the whole "well-rounded" idea. Education can't be confined to just academics. In fact, here is how the dictionary defines academics "very learned but inexperienced in practical matters, conforming to the traditions or rules of a school." I don't want to be "considered inexperienced in practical matters." I know the dictionary definitions aren't exactly what everyone sees as the right answer, but these definitions do give us a starting point.

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines education as the process of being educated, so here is how they define educated: "to provide schooling for, to train by formal instruction and supervised practice in a skill or profession." This is close to what I have heard when asking what education is, but one thing that has been left out is the personal experiences of an individual. Most people do believe a person must have some sort of "schooling" to be considered an educated person, and this is why so many people attend colleges and universities. It is not only what you learn in class as far as "book facts," like what year someone was born or when a certain chemical was discovered, it is also how well you learn to deal with responsibility and how you can make critical decisions. To give an example, here are a few of the individual colleges' that make up the University of Arkansas, mission statements: "The mission of the College of Ed...

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... Granted, he said he uses some of the things he learned, but he could have gotten those things in almost any area he could have studied.

Now it is time for you to decide if you think it is contradictive to choose a major, or if it is just a part of the educational process. I have shown you the technical definitions of some of the main words or ideas in education, does your definition match up? Hopefully this essay will help you while deciding on many things within your educational journey or even while setting up educational standards for a college or university. We must think about issues like this because such an importance is put on education, so it should not be taken lightly. I guess one reason people consider it so important goes back to the saying that education is something no one can ever take away from you. Once you get it, it is yours forever.