Welcome to the Blog!

by the Liberal Arts Dude

The question always comes to me once a year or so—what is my main motivation for creating and continuing this blog more than four years and counting into it (if you include my stint in 2002)?

The main motivation is for Liberal Arts grads and students to know the non-academic factors involved in following this track of study so that they are realistic about their prospects in the job market when they follow this track to its conclusion—graduating with a Liberal Arts degree. My aim is not to encourage students to abandon the study of the Liberal Arts. My aim is to give Liberal Arts students a realistic view of what options lie in the horizon for them if they were to graduate with a Liberal Arts degree and how they can best prepare themselves for that inevitability.

I have tried to give useful tips, survival stories, and advice that any Liberal Arts student can follow. I present my own personal story in the job market as an example of the worst thing that can happen to you despite having good grades and being a studious student. But the fact of the matter is having faced the worst thing that can happen—prolonged unemployment and underemployment—I am doing fairly well and I am still standing 12 years later after I got my Liberal Arts degree.

So part of my intention is to give the message that one has the capacity within oneself as an individual to take the proper precautions and preparations for the world of the job market. Your Liberal Arts curriculum most likely did not have a component of "Survival Skills in the Job Market." That is where I try to fill in the blanks and to give my advice and insights—all based on my Real World experience as a Liberal Arts grad—so other students and grads can avoid the worst case scenerio and the resulting personal and financial difficulties that come with that situation.

In the last year or so, I have tried to expand the horizons of this blog beyond career-related advice giving. Now that I am 12 years out of school the next stage in one's perspective is that of an adult navigating the world and society. Since I started out as an educational career blog, I try to give different types of information related to fleshing out the adult perspective as it relates to everyday concerns of an adult with a Liberal Arts background.

This is all done with the idea in mind that certain news and information would be of interest to provide a context by which to view the world, the economy, the job market, and where Liberal Arts and other college graduates fit in it. Hence I delve into issues such as: student debt, economic issues, educational policy, public policy, social class, access to higher education, news, and current events. If you are a regular reader, you might have noticed I have even tried my hand at editorializing on topical issues.

So hopefully as the Liberal Arts Grad blog evolves, you will still continue to visit and read. I will post in the permanent links on the right hand navigation bar the articles that I think are of particular interest. If you are a new reader—welcome! If you are a returning reader, I am glad that you are back and hopefully reading this blog will continue to be something that is of value and useful to you.

Best regards,
The Liberal Arts Dude