Since I'm a freshman, I haven't officially declared my major yet, but I'm 99% sure I'm going to be a political science major in the comparative politics subfield here at Clark. When I tell people what I'm thinking of majoring in, I'm confronted with all kinds of misconceptions about what political science majors are interested in or want to do as a career. These misconceptions are just based off of my personal experience and particular interest in certain aspects of political science, and they might not be true for every political science major.

1. Political Science at American Universities = American Politics

Newsflash! There are tons of different areas and foci in political science. At most liberal arts schools, political science is divided into three subfields or concentrations: American politics, international relations, and comparative politics. In the American subfield, you obviously study American politics and government. In international relations, you study how different countries interact with each other on an international level. In comparative politics (probably my subfield), you compare the domestic politics of different countries. When I tell people I'm a likely political science major, their first assumption is that I study American government and politics. While many political science majors do study American politics, a lot of us don't. People assume I study all the things they see on the news in terms of American politics, and while current events are relevant, that's not all political science is. Since I'm planning on studying comparative politics, I am a complete nerd for how other countries work in terms of government. I find all things UN-related fascinating. My path to political science actually started with my interest in political geography (like in middle school when you color in maps). The geography major at Clark is more physical geography focused, so I looked a little into the political science and so many of the courses were what I was actually interested when I said I liked political geography. I like studying the world and all the different countries. I will name all 193 UN-recognized sovereign states for you just because I can and I'm a nerd. None of these things I just mentioned that I'm passionate about are American politics-related, but I'm still a political science major.

2. We Always Want To Talk About Politics

To go along with the American assumption, and with the recent election, people assume I want to talk about politics or that my opinion is somehow more educated because that's what I study. I am a second-semester freshman. I've completed two political science courses, I hardly know anything. Yes, the past election has sparked a lot of people's interest in politics and I have my own opinions, but as mentioned before, I still don't study American politics. Since I don't study American politics, my opinion on Donald Trump is no better than everyone else you see yelling on Facebook. I also don't want to talk about the election all the time. When I tell people I'm a political science major, their first response is, "so Donald Trump..." Yep. That's a thing that happened, but I'm not ready to get into some political discussion or debate just because I told you about my educational endeavors. For me, politics is exhausting. I can't watch the news for long periods of time because I just can't deal with people arguing all the time (@ Chris Matthews on MSNBC, you always interrupt people on your show, find your chill). While many political science majors love debating, I don't, it's just my personality. I'm not gonna start a political discussion with you just because I'm into this stuff. I just want to learn about different types of government. I'm not here to yell about my opinions.

3. We All Want To Be Politicians

God, the last thing I want to be is a politician. Have you seen "Parks and Recreation"? Working in government sucks! There are plenty of political science majors who want to be politicians and run for office and that's amazing! Follow your dreams, friends. But government is not for all of us, and it's not for me. There are so many other things you could do with a political science major. You could work for the UN. You could work for a non-governmental organization. You could do research and become a professor. You could even do something not related to political science at all, like a lot of liberal arts students. Majoring in a subject at a liberal arts school isn't necessarily to get you a job in that field. Maybe I just really like political science and college is the one time in your life you can be completely self-indulgent, so why not learn some cool stuff? It's not necessarily the subject-matter that will get you a job, but it's the skills you learn in college; writing, leadership, public speaking, etc. When I tell people I'm gonna major in political science, they think I have some career path up my sleeve and ask, "what are you gonna do with that?" Guess what? I have no freaking idea. Just let me learn. I'm 18, I don't have it all figured out yet.