Mark Twain once said, “Some people get an education without going to college. The rest get it after they get out.” In many ways, this quote pertains to the ideas of Percy. Percy sheds a positive light upon learning from experience and he believes that it is important for someone to teach in order to learn. However, in college it is sometimes hard to learn by experience because they are constantly in a classroom or a lecture hall being taught subjects that do not correlate to their major. Throughout the next few years of education here at college, students will be taking many different courses with the main goal of earning a degree in their major of choice. It is a requirement for all students to take courses unrelated to their major and it is often viewed as a waste of time, effort, and money because it does not focus on their major.
Percy explains how, in order to truly see the whole picture, we can not focus on one small detail. If students only had to take one course, they would not be seeing the whole picture. In today’s world, society is constantly worried about small details rather than the big picture. Being a well-rounded citizen means having knowledge and awareness of multiple subjects rather than having tunnel vision to what is important to that one individual. If a student is only learning classes that involve their major, they are unable to become a well informed student who is able to hold an educated conversation about any other topic. On the other hand, if a student is being taught a variety of subjects they are able to develop a stronger understanding of what goes on in the world around them. Throughout his article, Percy states, “The sightseer may be aware that something is wrong. He may simply be bored; or he may be conscious of the difficulty: that the great thing yawning at his feet somehow eludes him.” Referring to the quote, it is clear that Percy believes students will get out as much as they put in when it comes to their classes and the benefits of hard work. Applying this to the overall topic, if students are required to take extra courses, it may seem like a waste of time if they do not put in any effort. On the other hand, if they decide to take it seriously and truly apply themselves, they are allowing themselves to open up and learn a new subject. This will make taking the extra classes that much more beneficial rather than a waste of time.
Additionally, it is important that students learn different subjects because then they have the ability to become the teacher. For instance, by placing a biology major and a sociology major in the same class, both of these students have the ability to teach the other about their own major. This will require those students to think outside of the box in a way that will help to explain their major to someone who knows nothing about that topic. In the end each student will grow strong in the classes that refer to their major.
