Ever sit in your philosophy class and wonder what you’re doing? Or maybe you avoided philosophy and opted for a history class. Whatever the case, we are all required to take five perspectives and two cultural formations in order to graduate from SMU.

While sometimes we struggle to get through one of our obligatory classes, there is good reasoning behind requiring all SMU graduates to take five perspectives and two cultural formations. To put it simply, it’s good for us.

SMU recognizes that studying the humanities helps turn students into well-rounded individuals. Not only do these classes offer entirely new perspectives to students, these cultural formation classes can introduce students to new majors and minors.

Will employers place more emphasis on your major G.P.A. than your liberal arts classes if you’re a business or engineering major? Of course, but that doesn’t make what you learn in those courses any less important. In fact, humanities classes are more likely to shape us as individuals in most cases

Believe it or not, your ethics class is considered by some employees to be just as important as a psychology, political science or theater class.

Employers actually look for well-rounded individuals with varying life experiences because more and more jobs require extensive knowledge of the world around us, which is one reason why studying abroad is advantageous. The bottom line is that students need to be able to appreciate diversity in our small world.

There’s a reason Cox won’t let students double major within the business school. The administration realizes the importance of humanities. The school encourages students to find a completely unrelated second major. Forcing students to branch out of their comfort zone allows for a deeper understanding of almost any concentration. Besides, spending all your time on a combination of finance and economics can be a bit monotonous. Why not spruce up your schedule with a liberal arts class?

Forget about the practicality of taking liberal arts classes. You should take them to for your own personal growth.

If you’re not convinced about the benefits of studying the humanities, consider perspectives as a break from your major. Do you really want to be taking four engineering classes in one semester?

By making the most of the variety of classes our university has to offer you can not only add to your knowledge base, but impress your future employer with facts ranging from the business world to the stage.