According to Ungar, liberal education has been largely rejected by the media and families with restricted incomes. But the liberal arts have much more to offer than people think. Ungar defends liberal education and shows us some misconceptions about it, but in my opinion it was Wallace, with his keynote speech, who highlighted the real value of liberal education. In his speech, Wallace shows us a better view of the true value of a liberal arts education is that students become aware of their surroundings, learn to live better lives, and obtain tools that encourage them to continue learning for the stay. of their lives. Liberal education leads students to become aware of their environment. According to Wallace, the true meaning of liberal education is that people learn to choose what to think and to be aware of their surroundings, contrary to the common belief that education is simply about filling oneself with knowledge. In his speech, Wallace states, “the really important education in thinking that we are supposed to receive in a place like this is not really about the ability to think, but rather about choosing what to think about” (Wallace 199 ). As in the parable with which he began his speech, in which the two young fish did not know what water was, through the liberal arts we learn to choose what to think and this leads us to become aware of our surroundings and to know what water is. . This is the true value of education, being aware of everything as he said towards the end of his speech: "the true value of a true education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple consciousness; of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight around us, all the time" (Wallace 20...... middle of paper ...... detailed picture of how this is happens, as we saw in the last paragraph, but it is enough to mention it Additionally, liberal education will encourage people to continue learning for the rest of their lives When people are self-aware. reality, they learn how important it is to maintain their education, the true The value of liberal education is that which makes us aware of our own reality and this leads us to continue learning "to remain conscious and alive in. the adult world day in and day out....your education is truly a lifetime's work." (Wallace 209) somewhat agrees with Wallace on this point when he closes his essay " They embrace complexity and diversity and devise ways to solve problems – rather than just complaining about them. They develop patterns that help them understand how to continue learning for the rest of their lives” (Ungar 196)