Diamond Bar is constantly recognized as a STEM school, or a school that is highly ranked for its calculus program. Seldom does the student body acknowledge the music department (they recently won a Grammy) or the dance team’s consistent first places at competitions.

However, in the rare occasion that these performing arts members are congratulated for their success, they are not supported by genuine interest in campus performances or plays. Students foolishly see the performing arts as a “waste of time”—time that can be used to cram for our IB HL Math test. Instead, the hardworking performing arts students are presented incentivized support from fellow classmates hungry for extra credit—if a teacher puts some value to the dance concert or band performance, say, 10 extra credit points on the next test, students will be flocking to the theatres.

Part of me believes that the problem lies with the community we live in. The demographics of Diamond Bar create a situation where arts aren’t as emphasized as the STEM field because of concerns of a stable career. Because parents of our students are so focused on job security, they deem the liberal arts as of little importance, unless, of course, the child can create an art portfolio that will strengthen their college application. However, what our community does not realize is that liberal arts and the sciences do have many interdisciplinary fields.

As aspiring doctors who should focus on the altruism of patient care, students should have some anthropology or literature classes meshed within their congested schedule of multivariable calculus and AP Biology. In the STEM field, especially the medical field, there is value in liberal arts that cannot be learned by memorizing the bones of the human body. Without a focus on art’s common themes, such as sympathy and morality, students in the STEM field might as well be human encyclopedias, chugging out information.

The other part of me believes that the problem lies within our generation. We moan at the idea of Emily Dickinson and develop unhealthy relationships with Sparknotes and Gradesaver. Rather than analyzing literature, our eyes are glued to our phones, praying that we will achieve our high score of 23 in Flappy Bird or peppering the captions of our selfies with “witty” hashtags. Gone are the days when people read for fun and looked to the performing arts as entertainment.

The performing arts and liberal arts receive much less credit than they deserve. With rapid developments in technology and medicine, parents are given more reasons to dissuade students from “wasting their time” on the arts. Yet, arts are the fundamentals for any career and should be revered as the key components to a wiser, more cultured society.