Student Reflections on the Liberal Arts

As education moves toward specialization, twelve students attest to the value of studying liberal arts at Wheaton.

Reflections 2013 - Chelsea O'Donnell

The true value of a Wheaton education has always and will ever exist in the beings of its students; its purpose is to nourish and to challenge us in pursuit of the truth of the cross as we are in turn pursued by the Spirit of its power.

Friendships and Romance - Andrew Wagner

I do not believe that God wants us to shirk our decision-making responsibilities. We are called to ask Him for guidance, yet when the time comes, we are responsible for making decisions.

Community and Calling - Amber Stenberg

What I have learned during my time at Wheaton is that I have a mind for the knotting together of things, for the color of life rather than its mechanics.

Education on the Stage - Benjamin Holland

As I graduate from Wheaton, one central fact will go with me. There is no final curtain. The lights will not flicker on, and the cast will not emerge to thank us for watching. When I would have left the theater, Wheaton taught me to mount the stage.

Science and Faith - Bruce Larkin

Research allows the scientist to experientially learn the intricacies of a specific phenomenon and have a sense of purpose that they are contributing previously undisclosed knowledge.

Casual Thoughts for an Incoming Freshman - Elizabeth Selin

Writing gives me an excuse to spend the rest of my life being a student. It’s how I make sense of the world and my faith.

Visual and Performing Arts - Kirsten Grorud

This vision of holistic, embodied, and action-based education has taken hold of my Wheaton experience and has colored the way I view my academics, my relationships, my faith, and my art.

Advocacy and Social Change - Lauren Caporaso

The philosophy of the liberal arts realizes that one’s discipline cannot be understood in the absence of all others because God created a complex world in which all facets of life interact perfectly yielding a creation bar none.

Advocacy and Social Change - Rachel Nerger

In this way, my study of the Spanish language has taught me what it means to live life in the church as a part of a global community, and it had allowed me to hear the voices of Latin American Christians.

Curiosity and Wisdom - Riley Balikian

If the questions brought up by geophysics are the vehicle through which I will live a life of worship in sight of God, the road has largely been carved out by the wisdom attained through my studies in theology and through my experiences in HNGR.

Science and Technology - Todd VanKerkhoff

Biology, physics, and chemistry help us to understand how certain things exist and function; faith in Christ answers questions of why and for Whom.

Media and Culture - Marisa Foxwell

Truth resides in the cries of the muted, as they escape the imprisonment of a hegemonic narrative. The truth of a system comes from the people at the bottom, and if we want to communicate that truth, that is where we must reside.