The Duke and the Dauphin

I think a large reason for my slight disdain for the way my college and presumably most colleges work is that it makes me feel limited in what I am allowed to learn. At my school at least, there are several required courses that have to be taken if you want to graduate, as well as the ultimately ineffective Development of Western Civilization program that seems to be the pride and joy of the school. All these requirements can severely and unnecessarily limit the amount of classes that a student can elect to take. One of the factors that influenced my decision to major in English was that the school only requires me to take 10 English classes before I graduate, whereas other areas of study dominate your schedule with prerequisites and sequential courses. Ideally I would be able to just take whichever classes I wanted to, similar to the movie Accepted, but realistically I am limited in what I can study and am forced to specialize. I don't want to specialize. I want to know everything.

Explanation of title: This post was written primarily so that I could use this title. Sorry if I wasted your time. The duke and the dauphin are two con artists in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. One of my favorite quotes from Mr. Twain is "I have never let my schooling get in the way of my education," an accomplishment I am envious of and hope I can imitate. Unfortunately, I think I am nearing the point where my schooling will get in the way of my education, which makes me wonder what I'm spending all this time and money on here.