Grouped with critical and apprehensive parents joined by their high achieving high school aged scholars on a college campus tour, a rumbling went through the crowd as our guide announced her major: Classical Studies with a minor in Jewish History.

“What kind of job do you find with that?” whispered the concerned parent, and only statistics of job retention following graduation could assuage her nervous state.

It was experiences like these, my struggle in finding a summer job, the bombardment of information about the failing economy and threats from my parents concerning my college costs that led me to pursue a practical undergraduate education.

With over 90 percent of Clayton students attending college after graduation, almost all of us face a huge decision senior year. We choose our home for the next four years based not only on size, location, and reputation, but we also consider the types of studies offered.

This is why prospective journalists consider University of Missouri at Columbia and prospective doctors look at Johns Hopkins University. Though we may change our minds, switch majors, and discover new interests, when choosing a school we must consider potential course of study.

For most, education is not solely about the pursuit of academics; the end goal is a career derived from our studies. This is why every year some students choose to attend pharmacy school, schools of education and engineering programs, and other practical, vocational focused courses of study.

Yet others head off to liberal arts schools with hopes to pursue majors in the fields of History or English, with less practical degrees in African American Studies or Fine Arts—and herein lies the contrast, between the abstract and the concrete.

As a nursing student in a university with a liberal arts school, I believe that academic pursuit and exploration does not end with the decision to pursue a job oriented undergraduate education. I would never sacrifice academic freedom for practical purposes, and I don’t have to.

There exists a confident few who are sure of their desired career and enter six year medical or five year education programs, or other such fast paced and focused courses. On such an accelerated track, these student have little to no time for outside, optional classes.

Nonetheless, their choice should not be criticized because their path leads them to their end goal quicker, and for a focused student, this leads to earlier success in their field. They are willing to sacrifice a “normal” college experience in order to reach their academic goals. While more relaxed or directionless students may relish their freedom in exploration, the driven student savors the advantage of achieving before the rest of their peers.

In most schools, with exceptions such as pharmacy school, one can take courses of interest outside of one’s required courses.  Few schools limit students with a variety of interests. In fact taking a variety of courses, especially outside of the student’s area of expertise is often encouraged.

As Mark Twain so eloquently put it, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”  Academic pursuits take place within specific courses of study as well as outside of the classroom. Some of the most personally meaningful literary works I’ve encountered were read outside of the classroom. Lectures, clubs, friends, plays—all provide for outside of the classroom academic exploration, and all are available regardless of major.

There’s no arguing that the University or College one attends largely affects an individual’s academic interests, however one’s major defines, but does not limit, one’s academic passions.

With few exceptions, higher education has been historically and currently enjoyed by the upper class, those with the financial means.  In an affluent school district like Clayton, we take for granted the fact that education is a privilege, and that few are able to experiment in their undergraduate studies, with no career goals in mind.

Practical undergraduate training is imperative for the financially challenged individual, and outside of Clayton I’m sure there are fewer high school graduates pursuing an Art History or Studio Arts major and more who must be guaranteed job opportunities after college graduation.

In addition to the choice to enter the work force after undergraduate graduation, there are far more scholarships devoted to luring high achieving students into practical undergraduate majors.

One must be at the financial liberty to pursue a more impractical degree and although the two types of education are equally valuable, the surety of a career path is more valuable to the financially unstable.

Choosing a vocational undergrad degree is not the end of academic pursuit, but a practical choice for the decisive senior, financially unstable, and academic focused.