As the semester winds down and we sign up for classes next semester, students could benefit from stepping back and taking courses in a variety of subjects rather than solely focusing within their major.

Some students choose a practical major and mold their valuable time around it.

Within this approach is the idea that higher education gets you a job, as if college is a sacrifice made for a future of wealth and happiness.

Although a life with spare cash is appealing, experience has shown that true happiness takes something more.

Many students aim for that “something more,” and what better place to explore the vast possibilities in life than at a university?

Undecided students have the pleasure of taking a variety of courses for a semester or two.

Many students have passion for their major and future career. There are countless science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students and liberal arts majors soaking up all the information they can within their specialty because they love it so much.

Despite their passion, these students need to step back and think before committing even more. For example, you might love STEM courses, but how much of it will you hold onto five years from now? 10 years? 30?

I find Bertrand Russell’s definition of education appropriate when he says it is “the formation, by means of instruction, of certain mental habits and a certain outlook on life and the world.”

Higher education is broad education because it forms a fuller perspective: studying just one arm of knowledge causes you to miss out on the rest of the body.

In practice, courses loaded with facts and knowledge are like dessert to the mind because they give us the constant pride of “real” learning. On the other hand, courses that embed unique concepts and thought processes in us are nutrition for the mind.

Being aware of this will ensure you don’t regret the university experience. While pursuing your passion, try to take a course in history or philosophy to question the human experience, literary analysis to practice argumentation, programming to enhance logic, etc.

Specializing in a passion and pursuing goals is necessary, but by branching out, students realize a higher education.

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