As we continue the process of signing up for classes for next semester during the  Add/Drop I period, the buzz around new courses has seemed to die down, while the scramble to sign up for a class that fulfills at least one graduation requirement persists. The obsession over what classes you need to take during your remaining years at Bowdoin may seem necessary right now, but we encourage you to take advantage of the wide range of departments and curriculum at your disposal. Regardless of what you may want to pursue once you graduate or what major will be listed on your diploma, we hope you are deliberate in selecting classes that force you to explore subjects and ideas outside of your comfort zone.

Bowdoin’s curriculum, consisting of five distribution and three division requirements, already serves as a mechanism to encourage students to pursue the liberal arts. Even the most diehard STEM student will have to take an arts class at some point during their Bowdoin career, and even the most humanities-focused student will likewise have to cast their lot in a quantitative reasoning course. But too often, students will try to complete these requirements by simply taking the easiest class possible.

We encourage you to use Bowdoin’s curricular requirements as a way to fulfill the College’s liberal arts promise—take a class that is truly foreign to you, something to broaden your intellectual horizons, not just an easy class you found that slots nicely into your schedule. We are also hopeful that you will think carefully about the classes you take to prepare for the world beyond Bowdoin, rather than taking a class because it fits in with a perceived pre-professional model.

Career funneling, a sociological phenomenon used to describe the filtering of students into a narrow sector of professions, is becoming an increasing concern for many elite institutions. While Bowdoin takes pride in the liberal arts education, students still fall into the trap of distinguishing between “prestigious” and “ordinary” jobs, narrowing the range of professions they consider pursuing. The passionate first-year icebreaker answers to “dream job” eventually morph into a rehearsed string of corporate jargon.

While corporate tunnel vision plagues the College, there are efforts to reverse trends of career funneling. A curriculum committee of faculty, staff and students met last summer, publishing a defense of the humanities with the goal of directing students towards various majors that may not conventionally connect to certain career paths. However, efforts to sustain interest in less popular majors at the College show little improvement in enrollment. Regardless of the journey you embark on, it is our hope that you push against the grain of society, staying true to passions and the interdisciplinary emphasis of the College.

As we are on the cusp of entrance into the professional world, it may seem only natural to structure the courses we take to work lockstep in pursuit of whatever career path we desire. This line of thought is not wrong, but one ought to consider just how special a time college really is. For the last time in most of our lives, we have the chance to explore fields of study for no reason other than personal intellectual growth.

Why not take advantage of this fact, and take courses well outside the realm of what may seem strictly “practical”? While the humanities offer a multitude of promising job opportunities, the greatest aspect of these fields is that career prep is only a byproduct, with the focus instead on the development of the individual as a member of society. With these opportunities at our fingertips, it would be our loss if we treat our collegiate experience as a vocational school. We encourage you to embrace the liberal arts education for all it has to offer.

This editorial represents the majority view of the Editorial Board, which is comprised of Evan Carr, Catalina Escobedo, Shawn Jiminez, Campbell Treschuk, Kristen Kinzler and Vaughn Vial.