As students pursuing degrees in a wide array of different fields, we take our classes and our educations seriously. Many of us come in to the University with intended areas of study and potential plans for future success. Among one of the many decisions we make when pursuing a major is whether we ought to declare a minor to accompany our major or whether we should enter more than one area of study.

Minors are an invaluable addition to any student’s academic experience and can be a way to diversify his or her education. With about 80 minors to choose from at the University, many students do take advantage of this academic opportunity.

Often, though, it seems students have a preconception that a minor or other coursework should correlate specifically with a given major, or that what they are studying here must be focused into some narrow tunnel, aimed in one direction. However, that is not necessarily the case.

And based on a recent article from The Daily Illini, others are adopting this mindset as well.

Having an interdisciplinary education and studying in two seemingly unrelated fields can do nothing but enhance students’ well-roundedness and readiness for the workforce later on.

Many of us might think that if you major in finance, for example, pursuing a minor in business is the natural and most obvious choice. Or if you major in advertising, a minor in communications might contribute greatly to your success in advertising.

And while combinations of related areas of study are relevant and applicable, and an intelligent choice for many, pursuing areas of study dissimilar from a given major are equally as beneficial to students’ success.

Having an interdisciplinary set of skills is something that allows us to be more marketable and can expand our knowledge and understanding of other areas. Good at calculus? Great. Interested in Spanish? Fantastic. Pursue both. Chances are, having both sets of skills will prove worthwhile.

As indicated in The Daily Illini, some departments are recognizing the need to acknowledge and expand academic paths. More specifically, there are movements aimed to bridge the apparent gap between arts and science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Typically when thinking of a student majoring in engineering here at the University, we tend not to think that student would, or even should, pursue art as well.

Guen Montgomery, art and design advisor, said, “It is necessary to understand your world. STEM majors are intertwined with arts so closely. Artists are helping to create our world; they are helping to create the media that we consume. And I think that if you balance these things, then you understand your world.”

We take that a step further and say that broader application of academic fields is relevant to many combinations of academic paths. By diversifying classes through pursuing a minor or another concentration, students are able to deviate from their major and gain valuable knowledge that will be vital for future success and adaptability in the workforce.