The Life of a Liberal Arts Major

I am glad that I have this opportunity to write about my life as a liberal arts major as my primary purpose in writing my column on the Internet is to help people. Now that I have been out of school for a long time, I believe others can learn from my experiences. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Government and History from King's College, and a Master of Arts Degree in Government and Politics from Georgetown University.

Lessons Learned

The primary lesson I have learned is that liberal arts majors do not have a natural job market and must be versatile and able to do a lot of different jobs. I have used my degree in a variety of different jobs and I have also experienced the enormous frustrations that liberal arts major experience in the job market. We must remember that while we may struggle in the job market we can do remarkable things when we have a job. In my view, liberal arts majors are usually more analytical and have more communication skills then technical majors.

My Employment History

In 1980, while I was finishing up with my Master's Degree at Georgetown University a new Congressman from my district, Ray Musto, was just elected in a special election. Of course, I applied for a job and I received a part time job as a legislative correspondent. I answered the mail and advised constituents about the purpose, effects, and status of bills before Congress. A few times, I answered the Congressman's questions about my letters to the constituents, and I talked to the Congressman about proposed legislation on several occasions. I also had the opportunity to talk to lobbyists about legislation they were supporting, and passed some of the information onto the staff. Unfortunately, Congressman Musto lost his re-election campaign and I lost my job.

I would advise anyone to work for the Congress or the state legislature if given the chance. This is a great opportunity to help people and work for a better America by promoting worthwhile legislation.

The Executive Branch of Government

After leaving Capital Hill, I was hired as inventory manager at the Navy's Aviation Supply Office in Philadelphia. Our mission was to supply spare parts to the Fleet to keep the Navy strong and ready for any contingency. There I learned the purpose of logistics: to have the right material at the right place and at the right time. More importantly, I accepted a goal in life which I carry to this day. That goal is to help the nation prepare for war, to win any war that must be fought, and to limit our casualties at the same time. I Have published some articles on the Yahoo Network to help achieve those goals.

As a liberal arts major who never took a course in economics or business, one would think that I could not be successful in logistics, but I was. I was quickly promoted to supply headquarters in Washington D.C. This supports my theory that liberal arts majors do not have much technical expertise, but they can do great things because of their analytical and communications skills.

A couple of years later I got a job as an intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army. I worked the Persian Gulf, and I was part of a team that accomplished great things in this area. My job was to help protect American interests in the Persian Gulf and to protect the American People from all the various threats coming from the countries in this region. Our team accomplished great things in the area. We successfully deterred the dreaded Soviet invasion of Iran, stopped the Iranian Revolution in its tracks and limited this revolution to Iran itself, and protected American interests in the area during the Iran-Iraq War. Incredibly, we were not hit with any oil embargoes and the oil continued to flow from the region even though Iran and Iraq slugged it out for years. The war ended where it started with both countries basically confined to their original borders.

In the end I did what every good civil servant should do. I accomplished my objective and then I went home. I was part of the team that won the Cold War, and then I was part of the peace dividend. I left the Federal Government so the taxpayers would not have to pay me anymore.

Writing for the Yahoo Network

Now I am writing for this organization and some of my articles are designed to accomplish the goals I had when I worked for the government. I want to accomplish our foreign policy objectives while limiting the violence and our military operations, and saving American lives at the same time. So I was against the Iraq War as I believe we are taking too many casualties and we can win the war on terrorism without the intervention in Iraq. Please click here to read my article about the war in Iraq and tell me what you think. Then click here and read my article on using naval and air power to win the war on terrorism and limit American casualties at the same time. Of course, I would like your comments on this strategy.