Alumna Focus
Andrea Rainer went on to graduate school after completing her Liberal Studies BA, and believes a general education is vital for both further education and the world of work.
“Unlike programs at educational institutions I attended before [VIU], Liberal Studies offered small classes and accessible professors. The professors, each with an eclectic scholastic background, provided lively lectures followed by stimulating seminars where each student could share his or her thoughts on the core program’s historical texts. Liberal Studies encouraged me to think broadly—TO THINK, ‘Be Just’ and/or ‘Just Be.’
“Will Liberal Studies provide you—the prospective student—with a rewarding career? Today, no scholastic program can guarantee a rewarding career. What a Liberal Studies degree can offer is a profound education, an intellectual platform from which you may take your own plunge into the great abyss—the world of capitalist employment. To take your plunge, to learn how to navigate this increasingly complex world, study the masters’ traditions. To parse Henry Matisse, who stood in front of Moscow’s icons and there, for the first time, understood Byzantine painting: ‘You surrender yourself that much better when you see your effort confirmed by such an ancient tradition. It helps you jump the ditch.’ ”