Scripps College is famous for its CORE program, which aims to challenge the preconceived notions students have of the world around them. Often times freshman year I heard my classmates complain about CORE, and how it doesn’t help garner skills employers look for. However, after going through the process of applying and completing internships, I realize now how wrong we were about Scripps’ CORE program. In this post, I’m going to talk about the abilities CORE gave me and how I translate them into “employable” skills.

For starters, I would never be able to communicate as effectively if I hadn’t partaken in the intimate CORE discussion classes. The subject material was always sensitive, particularly during the first semester when the CORE I theme was violence. Furthermore, the readings (from Foucault to Kant) were extremely challenging and focused around complex philosophical theories. At the beginning of CORE I, I had many opinions and reactions to what I was reading, but lacked the know-how of how to put abstract ideas into words. Also, because the subject matter was so delicate I never wanted to misspeak. I developed a system of how to process my thoughts into concrete ideas so that I could express in a clear manner. My CORE I professor helped with this by instructing us to come to class each day with 3 questions and 3 comments about the previous night’s reading. By coming to class prepared with written statements, I felt confident in articulating my thoughts in in-class discussions. It turns out communication skills is one of the most marketable skills out there – every internship I applied for calls for interns who are great communicators. Listening to others in CORE and then reacting to their thoughts in a respectful manner helped hone my ability to collaborate, express my thoughts, and create meaningful discussion. Though not a “concrete” skill – like knowing STATA or Python – Scripps’ small classroom discussions give us practice for conference rooms and team meetings.

The emphasis of writing also helped prepare me for internships. CORE essays – though brutal in the beginning – refined my writing skills. I often go back to papers I wrote for CORE to see how I structured my introductions and conclusions, the transition sentences I used, and the overall format. Many employers want to know you can write, and when I explain the three-semester writing-intensive CORE program, they feel confident that I will be able to handle drafting company documents.

Scripps’ liberal arts education has helped me immensely throughout my work experience. There are loads more skills I learned from CORE [multi-tasking, working under a time limit, looking at organizations from different perspectives…] but I encourage you to think of how you changed throughout the CORE experience, and why.