Anna Dorsey | Illustration Editor

A friend recently asked us what we’re going to miss the most upon graduation, and we were in complete agreement: our classes. Our friend was surprised; people often anticipate most missing their college friends, clubs and extracurriculars, being surrounded by people their age, or the relative freedom compared to the postgraduate world. 

We are both seniors: Amelia studies English Literature and is graduating this fall, and Sylvie studies Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Political Science and is graduating this spring. We will, of course, miss the social sphere of college too. Yet as we approach our graduations, we have found ourselves clinging to our readings and class discussions. We will stay in touch with our friends and club communities and embrace the freedom of our 20s, but nothing compares to the experience of liberal arts undergraduate classes.

While many people view their social and academic lives as distinct, we don’t have to. Our disciplines are notably social, as the hallmark of a humanities education is conversation. In discussions, we learn from our professors and our peers who all bring different perspectives and knowledge to the table. The College of Arts & Sciences classes, especially in the humanities, encourage us to bring what we’ve learned from other classes and lived experiences to the subject. Learning from this material and in this environment pushes us to reconsider our beliefs and preconceived notions and to think critically about the world.

We are worried that after we graduate, we will struggle to find spaces that similarly encourage open dialogue and exploration of new disciplines without implications for lifelong careers. We both plan to attend law school, which we are sure will teach us new things and expose us to new perspectives. Still, nothing is quite like an undergraduate education in the liberal arts. Our lives are dedicated to learning. We are encouraged to follow our intellectual curiosity without the pressure to turn all of those interests into lucrative careers. In graduate school, you instead focus on one discipline and work toward an occupation, especially in pre-professional programs. 

As we express our gratitude for these liberal arts classes, we must acknowledge that the one-track mind thinking of graduate studies is becoming more common in undergraduate programs — a shift that greatly worries us. Humanities and social science disciplines are increasingly underfunded, underresourced, and deprioritized at universities across the country. 

This phenomenon is compounded by the Trump administration’s attack on the humanities. Under the proposed Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, among other policies threatening academic freedom and DEI, universities with substantial endowments would be required to charge tuition only to students who are not pursuing degrees in the “hard sciences.” 

WashU has not been immune to this shift in undergraduate education, and we urge students to take our gratitude for our humanities and social science classes as a plea to take and support these classes and faculty. When you are selecting courses for the spring semester, we urge you to seek out classes like those we have described. Taking these courses will not only benefit you, but also signals to WashU that we value these programs and that they should too.

One of the best things about college is that you can take classes outside of your major or minor, which will give you a more nuanced perspective when you return to your major program and your future. Many of the best classes we’ve taken were cross-listed (often with our majors), as they are interdisciplinary and cover an intersectional breadth of topics. We especially encourage people to take classes in cultural studies departments, particularly those centering experiences and communities different from their own. 

Instead of scrolling RateMyProfessor for the easiest grader, try looking into a professor’s primary research subject and choosing a class they teach about this topic. Classes where the professor teaches about the topic they dedicate their scholarship to are often the most interesting and engaging and facilitate meaningful discussions. Additionally, you can ensure that classes are discussion-based by checking the class size (aim for under 20). 

As WashU students, we are inundated with homework and outside engagements, which makes it tempting to take our classes passively and just for a high grade. However, as seniors looking back on the times we too skimmed our readings and prayed for winter or summer break, we wish we could go back and do it again. 

We urge each student to value their readings, classes, and discussions. Thoroughly engage with your readings by highlighting and annotating — and definitely don’t just read a ChatGPT summary. Actively participate in your class discussions: learn the names of your classmates, build off of their ideas, and be open to new perspectives and occasionally being proven wrong. Your professors are your greatest resource, so go to office hours and ask them questions about class, their research, and for advice and mentorship. And don’t take the easy route: do the honors thesis or capstone and take the classes you’ve heard are difficult but well worth it — that’s what college should be.