Issue date: 12/7/09 Section: Opinion

In my last sit-down interview with President Brian Casey, the topic turned to me for a moment, when he asked me about my majors. When I told him I was econ-Spanish-Media Fellows and I had no idea what I wanted to do, he peered over the coffee table in his sun-drenched office and looked incredulous.

"You've got to... I mean, focus," Casey said.

I guess.

But I thought the point of a liberal arts education was that I could try everything, know a lot about a little and then find what I wanted.

Oh, oops, I forgot, the exploration part is the first two years. Now I'm in year four of five and I should be more focused. (And with the 2-2-2 now in place, I can get out of the physical education requirement I've been dreading. At least I took two-thirds of Lifefit last year.)

Exploration should never end. And it's more than the six experiences that professor Erik Wielenberg and colleagues proposed. And those experiences are things in and out of the classroom.

I wasn't at the faculty meeting last night, but I heard stories from our reporters who were there. At the meeting, Anne Harris listed a number of experiences that students and people can have. And yes, she included "sexual experience."

Giggling ensued. Welcome to maturity.

So the faculty can encourage a varied number of experiences, groups, courses, whatever, and in the end students will use their personal hopes and desires to formulate their class schedules. (That is, if they get a chance to get what they want.)

And now that we have fewer requirements, students will be less likely to wade in Big Walnut Creek and chase ping pong balls for course credit. Or to drive out to Shades State Park even if geology isn't your major. Or run laps around Blackstock during class. Or explore music or media. So in some ways, we've lost something by going to fewer requirements.

It is easier because there are less boxes to check, yes, and considering how scheduling and other things have gone this semester, that's a good thing. And until there are no "requirements" and simply a free-for-all, there will always be boxes to check.

At a meeting earlier in the year, a faculty member described the hope of the Summer Working group as wanting students to explore around campus with a few courses over here, a few over there and a couple way over there. That's the best way to describe 2-2-2, and it makes sense. But students might explore as little as possible or as much as possible. It's up to them.

I explored. I loved philosophy and ended up majoring in economics. I did poorly in geology but loved the experience. And I'm still exploring. Maybe law school. Maybe journalism. Maybe Spanish.

And, hey, Dr. Casey went to law school and even practiced law for a few years before realizing his true calling in education. He explored, and he hasn't turned out half bad.

Right?



- Welch is a junior from Carmel, Ind. majoring in economics and Spanish. He is editor-in-chief of The DePauw.

editor@thedepauw.com

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