If you're a liberal arts major, you may often find that your experience is much different than your business or chemistry major friends. Unfortunately, liberal arts majors are not often well-respected and find themselves as the butts of many jokes often ending in, "Would you like fries with that?" At the end of the day, the career uncertainly and contempt for your major is worth it when it comes with the knowledge that you get to spend time doing and learning about what you have the most passion for.
1. You dread the question, "What do you want to do with that?"
Whether you're majoring in Gender and Women's studies or history, you've definitely heard this question asked almost every time you tell someone your major. While many people are genuinely interested to know how you plan on applying your degree after you graduate, this question is often a loaded question tinged with doubt that many liberal arts majors are tired of hearing.
2. ...Even though you may not know yourself.
As much as you hate that people doubt your ability to apply your major or find employment post-grad, you don't necessarily have an answer to the aforementioned loathed question. And thats okay! Not knowing what you want to do with a liberal arts major doesn't mean you're proving a stereotype right, it just means that you're in good company. Most students aren't entirely sure of their post-grad prospects. And even if they are, they may end up falling into something totally different. This is just as true for a philosophy major as it is for a business major.
3. What's your backup plan?
This is asked almost as frequently as "What do you want to do with that?" Why don't people ask this to pre-med majors? Even though it can be helpful not to have a one-track mind when it comes to careers, when you ask a liberal arts major this question, you're implying that they can't accomplish their goals, which is so far from the truth.
4. "You can always teach!"
This seems to be the most common suggested fallback for geography and English majors alike. And even though many of us do want to teach and it's an excellent career path, the assumption that the only options us liberal arts majors will have for careers is teaching is not only insulting, but just plain wrong. As much as we all hate this question, it's hard to say that we haven't all considered it at as a viable "backup plan" at least once when people made us feel as if our career options are especially bleak.
5. You analyze everything.
When examining societal norms is a common theme in many of your classes, you are likely to adopt hyper-critical tendencies. You can no longer watch TV, listen to music, or consume any kind of media without subjecting it to intense critique or analysis.
6. You're probably friends with your professors.
You likely utilize office hours to stop in and talk with your professor about different interpretations of reading material, a class discussion or about politics. The often polarizing opinions held by students and professors alike makes for an interesting dynamic.
7. You keep a certain set of words in your back pocket.
You know the ones: problematic, hegemony, discourse, marginalized, pedagogy...At first, you may have only had the slightest idea what these words mean (that may still be the case). Even so, you're now prepared to use these words at your disposal.
8. You find it hard to narrow down your interests.
You may be a political science major, but you constantly find yourself longing to test the waters of other departments like sociology and international studies. They're all very interconnected and so all of the available classes seem so interesting! If only there was room in your schedule for "Food, Culture, and Social Justice" and "Global Gayz".
9. You can visualize the connections between all your classes.
While this is a common experience for most majors, it's often interesting to see how your seemingly different course material informs your understanding of the material in your other classes. You often find yourself calling upon topics from World Geography when discussing English or Gender Studies content, for example.
10. You're probably very well-rounded.
Because of how much liberal arts departments intersect, you've likely gotten a taste of many of them. Just because your a Gender and Women's Studies major doesn't mean you're not well versed on International Studies or Political Science.
11. So. Many. Readings.
You sometimes find yourself jealous of your friends in STEM majors who rarely have readings, much less as long as theirs. You're brought back after seeing the very intensely difficult chemistry they're solving or their sketches of the Kreb's Cycle. And also by how passionate you are about your field of study, even if you have to remind yourself of that fact every 50 pages.
12. You've written a disgusting amount of papers.
See number 9. This at least translates to very strong oral and written communication skills that will eventually help you nab your dream job (see numbers 1-4).
