Thankful for the Liberal Arts

Just one of the many things I am giving thanks for this Thanksgiving is not just having completed by undergraduate degree in the past year, but for the Wheaton education that degree represents. Six months out, I am extremely grateful to have studied at Wheaton College (and to my parents for paying for it!), for many reasons I have detailed in other articles (see my article “Why I Still Choose Wheaton,” for example). An article appeared in The Foundry, the blog of The Heritage Foundation, today about the value of liberal arts education - the kind of education provided at Wheaton. Reading through Ryan Messmore’s explanation of the merits of a liberal education, I could not help but think of Wheaton's philosophy of the same, and made me incredibly proud and honored to hold a degree from such an institution. The liberal arts model is one I try to incorporate now into my teaching, as I attempt to teach in such a way that will help my students develop not just their skills on their instruments but also their broad artistic and analytical skills and their appreciation of great accomplishments of human culture.